Phylogenetic analysis of a microbialite-forming microbial mat from a hypersaline lake of the Kiritimati atoll, Central Pacific.

ABSTRACT: On the Kiritimati atoll, several lakes exhibit microbial mat-formation under different hydrochemical conditions. Some of these lakes trigger microbialite formation such as Lake 21, which is an evaporitic, hypersaline lake (salinity of approximately 170‰). Lake 21 is completely covered with a thick multilayered microbial mat. This mat is associated with the formation of decimeter-thick highly porous microbialites, which are composed of aragonite and gypsum crystals. We assessed the bacterial and archaeal community composition and its alteration along the vertical stratification by large-scale analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences of the nine different mat layers. The surface layers are dominated by aerobic, phototrophic, and halotolerant microbes. The bacterial community of these layers harbo

SUBMITTER: Schneider D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3677903 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature