Allelopathy-mediated competition in microbial mats from Antarctic lakes.

Microbial mats are vertically stratified communities that host a complex consortium of microorganisms, dominated by cyanobacteria, which compete for available nutrients and environmental niches, within these extreme habitats. The Antarctic Dry Valleys near McMurdo Sound include a series of lakes within the drainage basin that are bisected by glacial traverses. These lakes are traditionally independent, but recent increases in glacial melting have allowed two lakes (Chad and Hoare) to become connected by a meltwater stream. Microbial mats were collected from these lakes, and cultured under identical conditions at the McMurdo Station laboratory. Replicate pairings of the microbial mats exhibited consistent patterns of growth inhibition indicative of competitive dominance. Natural products were extracted from the microbial mats, and a disk diffusion assay was utilized to show that allelochemical compounds mediate competitive interactions. Both microscopy and 16S rRNA sequencing show that these mats contain significant populations of cyanobacteria known to produce allelochemicals. Two compounds were isolated from these microbial mats that might be important in the chemical ecology of these psychrophiles. In other disk:mat pairings, including extract versus mat of origin, the allelochemicals exhibited no effect. Taken together, these results indicate that Antarctic lake microbial mats can compete via allelopathy.

Slattery M ，Lesser MP 《-》

Patterns of bacterial biodiversity in the glacial meltwater streams of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

Microbial consortia dominate glacial meltwater streams from polar regions, including the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), where they thrive under physiologically stressful conditions. In this study, we examined microbial mat types and sediments found in 12 hydrologically diverse streams to describe the community diversity and composition within and across sites. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene from 129 samples revealed ∼24 000 operational taxonomic units (<97% DNA similarity), making streams the most biodiverse habitat in the MDV. Principal coordinate analyses revealed significant but weak clustering by mat type across all streams (ANOSIM R-statistic = 0.28) but stronger clustering within streams (ANOSIM R-statistic from 0.28 to 0.94). Significant relationships (P < 0.05) were found between bacterial diversity and mat ash-free dry mass, suggesting that diversity is related to the hydrologic regimes of the various streams, which are predictive of mat biomass. However, correlations between stream chemistry and community members were weak, possibly reflecting the importance of internal processes and hydrologic conditions. Collectively, these results suggest that localized conditions dictate bacterial community composition of the same mat types and sediments from different streams, and while MDV streams are hotspots of biodiversity in an otherwise depauperate landscape, controls on community structure are complex and site specific.

Van Horn DJ ，Wolf CR ，Colman DR ，Jiang X ，Kohler TJ ，McKnight DM ，Stanish LF ，Yazzie T ，Takacs-Vesbach CD ... -  《-》

Importance of environmental factors over habitat connectivity in shaping bacterial communities in microbial mats and bacterioplankton in an Antarctic freshwater system.

Freshwater ecosystems are considered hotspots of biodiversity in Antarctic polar deserts. Anticipated warming is expected to change the hydrology of these systems due to increased meltwater and reduction of ice cover, with implications for environmental conditions and physical connectivity between habitats. Using 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we evaluated microbial mat and planktonic communities within a connected freshwater system in the McMurdo Wright Valley, Antarctica, to determine the roles of connectivity and habitat conditions in controlling microbial assemblage composition. We examined communities from glacial Lake Brownworth, the perennially ice-covered Lake Vanda and the Onyx River, which connects the two. In Lake Vanda, we found distinct microbial assemblages occupying sub-habitats at different lake depths, while the communities from Lake Brownworth and Onyx River were structurally similar. Despite the higher physical connectivity and dispersal opportunities between bacterial communities in the shallow parts of the system, environmental abiotic conditions dominated over dispersal in driving community structure. Functional metabolic pathway predictions suggested differences in the functional gene potential between the microbial mat communities located in shallower and deeper water depths. The findings suggest that increasing temperatures and meltwater due to future climate change will affect bacterial diversity and functioning in Antarctic freshwater ecosystems.

Ramoneda J ，Hawes I ，Pascual-García A ，Mackey TJ ，Sumner DY ，Jungblut AD ... -  《-》

Community structure and distribution of benthic cyanobacteria in Antarctic lacustrine microbial mats.

Pessi IS ，Lara Y ，Durieu B ，Maalouf PC ，Verleyen E ，Wilmotte A ... -  《-》

Bacteriohopanepolyols across environmental gradients in Lake Vanda, Antarctica.

Bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) are bacterial membrane lipids that may be used as biological or environmental biomarkers. Previous studies have described the diversity, distribution, and abundance of BHPs in a variety of modern environments. However, the regulation of BHP production in polar settings is not well understood. Benthic microbial mats from ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica provide an opportunity to investigate the sources, physiological roles, and preservation of BHPs in high-latitude environments. Lake Vanda is one of the most stable lakes on Earth, with microbial communities occupying specific niches along environmental gradients. We describe the influence of mat morphology and local environmental conditions on the diversity and distribution of BHPs and their biological sources in benthic microbial mats from Lake Vanda. The abundance and diversity of C-2 methylated hopanoids (2-MeBHP) are of particular interest, given that their stable degradation products, 2-methylhopanes, are among the oldest and most prevalent taxonomically informative biomarkers preserved in sedimentary rocks. Furthermore, the interpretation of sedimentary 2-methylhopanes is of great interest to the geobiology community. We identify cyanobacteria as the sole source of 2-MeBHP in benthic microbial mats from Lake Vanda and assess the hypothesis that 2-MeBHP are regulated in response to a particular environmental variable, namely solar irradiance.

Matys ED ，Mackey T ，Grettenberger C ，Mueller E ，Sumner DY ，Hawes I ，Summons RE ... -  《-》