Uncovered Microbial Diversity in Antarctic Cryptoendolithic Communities Sampling three Representative Locations of the Victoria Land.

ABSTRACT: The endolithic niche represents an ultimate refuge to microorganisms in the Mars-like environment of the Antarctic desert. In an era of rapid global change and desertification, the interest in these border ecosystems is increasing due to speculation on how they maintain balance and functionality at the dry limits of life. To assure a reliable estimation of microbial diversity, proper sampling must be planned in order to avoid the necessity of re-sampling as reaching these remote locations is risky and requires tremendous logistical and economical efforts. In this study, we seek to determine the minimum number of samples for uncovering comprehensive bacterial and fungal diversity, comparing communities in strict vicinity to each other. We selected three different locations of the Victoria L

SUBMITTER: Coleine C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7356261 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature