Stratified Bacterial Diversity along Physico-chemical Gradients in High-Altitude Modern Stromatolites.

ABSTRACT: At an altitude of 3,570 m, the volcanic lake Socompa in the Argentinean Andes is presently the highest site where actively forming stromatolite-like structures have been reported. Interestingly, pigment and microsensor analyses performed through the different layers of the stromatolites (50 mm-deep) showed steep vertical gradients of light and oxygen, hydrogen sulfide and pH in the porewater. Given the relatively good characterization of these physico-chemical gradients, the aim of this follow-up work was to specifically address how the bacterial diversity stratified along the top six layers of the stromatolites which seems the most metabolically important and diversified zone of the whole microbial community. We herein discussed how, in only 7 mm, a drastic succession of metabolic adaptat

SUBMITTER: Toneatti DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5388776 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature