Phyllosilicates as protective habitats of filamentous cyanobacteria Leptolyngbya against ultraviolet radiation.

ABSTRACT: Phototrophic cyanobacteria are limited in growth locations by their need for visible light and must also cope with intermittent ultraviolet radiation (UVR), especially in extreme environments such as deserts and on early Earth. One survival method for cyanobacteria is growing endolithically within minerals such as micas, gypsum, and quartz minerals. However, the capability of different mica minerals to protect cyanobacteria from UVR, while at the same time allowing transmission of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), has only been minimally examined. In this study, we performed laboratory incubation experiments to demonstrate that a model filamentous cyanobacterium, Leptolyngbya sp., can colonize micas, such as muscovite, phlogopite, and biotite. After inoculation experiments confirm

SUBMITTER: Kugler A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6623962 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature