Inner workings of thrombolites: spatial gradients of metabolic activity as revealed by metatranscriptome profiling.

ABSTRACT: Microbialites are sedimentary deposits formed by the metabolic interactions of microbes and their environment. These lithifying microbial communities represent one of the oldest ecosystems on Earth, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying the function of these communities are poorly understood. In this study, we used comparative metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses to characterize the spatial organization of the thrombolites of Highborne Cay, The Bahamas, an actively forming microbialite system. At midday, there were differences in gene expression throughout the spatial profile of the thrombolitic mat with a high abundance of transcripts encoding genes required for photosynthesis, nitrogen fixation and exopolymeric substance production in the upper three mm of the mat. Transcripts a

SUBMITTER: Mobberley JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4515876 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature