Geobiology of Andean Microbial Ecosystems Discovered in Salar de Atacama, Chile.

ABSTRACT: The Salar de Atacama in the Chilean Central Andes harbors unique microbial ecosystems due to extreme environmental conditions, such as high altitude, low oxygen pressure, high solar radiation, and high salinity. Combining X-ray diffraction analyses, scanning electron microscopy and molecular diversity studies, we have characterized twenty previously unexplored Andean microbial ecosystems in eight different lakes and wetlands from the middle-east and south-east regions of this salt flat. The mats and microbialites studied are mainly formed by calcium carbonate (aragonite and calcite) and halite, whereas the endoevaporites are composed predominantly of gypsum and halite. The carbonate-rich mats and microbialites are dominated by Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria phyla. Within th

SUBMITTER: Vignale FA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8581658 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature