Community Vertical Composition of the Laguna Negra Hypersaline Microbial Mat, Puna Region (Argentinean Andes).

ABSTRACT: The Altiplano-Puna region is a high-altitude plateau in South America characterized by extreme conditions, including the highest UV incidence on Earth. The Laguna Negra is a hypersaline lake located in the Catamarca Province, northwestern Argentina, where stromatolites and other microbialites are found, and where life is mostly restricted to microbial mats. In this study, a particular microbial mat that covers the shore of the lake was explored, to unravel its layer-by-layer vertical structure in response to the environmental stressors therein. Microbial community composition was assessed by high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and pigment content analyses, complemented with microscopy tools to characterize its spatial arrangement within the mat. The top layer of the mat has a remarkab

SUBMITTER: Boidi FJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9220024 | biostudies-literature | 2022 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature