Comparative Metagenomics Provides Insight Into the Ecosystem Functioning of the Shark Bay Stromatolites, Western Australia.

ABSTRACT: Stromatolites are organosedimentary build-ups that have formed as a result of the sediment trapping, binding and precipitating activities of microbes. Today, extant systems provide an ideal platform for understanding the structure, composition, and interactions between stromatolite-forming microbial communities and their respective environments. In this study, we compared the metagenomes of three prevalent stromatolite-forming microbial mat types in the Spaven Province of Hamelin Pool, Shark Bay located in Western Australia. These stromatolite-forming mat types included an intertidal pustular mat as well as a smooth and colloform mat types located in the subtidal zone. Additionally, the metagenomes of an adjacent, non-lithifying mat located in the upper intertidal zone were also sequenced

SUBMITTER: Babilonia J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6027182 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature