Adaptations of endolithic communities to abrupt environmental changes in a hyper-arid desert.

ABSTRACT: The adaptation mechanisms of microbial communities to natural perturbations remain unexplored, particularly in extreme environments. The extremophilic communities of halite (NaCl) nodules from the hyper-arid core of the Atacama Desert are self-sustained and represent a unique opportunity to study functional adaptations and community dynamics with changing environmental conditions. We transplanted halite nodules to different sites in the desert and investigated how their taxonomic, cellular, and biochemical changes correlated with water availability, using environmental data modeling and metagenomic analyses. Salt-in strategists, mainly represented by haloarchaea, significantly increased in relative abundance at sites characterized by extreme dryness, multiple wet/dry cycles, and colder con

SUBMITTER: Perez-Fernandez CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9681764 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature