Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog
While many habitable niches on Earth are characterized by permanently cold conditions, little is known about the spatial structure of seasonal communities and the importance of substrate-cell associations in terrestrial cyroenvironments. Here we use the 16S rRNA gene as a marker for genetic diversit...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 https://doaj.org/article/b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 2023-05-15T15:02:03+02:00 Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog Haley M. Sapers Jennifer Ronholm Isabelle Raymond-Bouchard Raven Comrey Gordon R. Osinski Lyle G. Whyte 2017-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 https://doaj.org/article/b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 https://doaj.org/article/b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 8 (2017) cold spring Mars analog permafrost phsycrophile microbial ecology Microbiology QR1-502 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 2022-12-31T06:18:34Z While many habitable niches on Earth are characterized by permanently cold conditions, little is known about the spatial structure of seasonal communities and the importance of substrate-cell associations in terrestrial cyroenvironments. Here we use the 16S rRNA gene as a marker for genetic diversity to compare two visually distinct but spatially integrated surface microbial mats on Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian high arctic, proximal to a perennial saline spring. This is the first study to describe the bacterial diversity in microbial mats on Axel Heiberg Island. The hypersaline springs on Axel Heiberg represent a unique analog to putative subsurface aquifers on Mars. The Martian subsurface represents the longest-lived potentially habitable environment on Mars and a better understanding of the microbial communities on Earth that thrive in analog conditions will help direct future life detection missions. The microbial mats sampled on Axel Heiberg are only visible during the summer months in seasonal flood plains formed by melt water and run-off from the proximal spring. Targeted-amplicon sequencing revealed that not only does the bacterial composition of the two mat communities differ substantially from the sediment community of the proximal cold spring, but that the mat communities are distinct from any other microbial community in proximity to the Arctic springs studied to date. All samples are dominated by Gammaproteobacteria: Thiotichales is dominant within the spring samples while Alteromonadales comprises a significant component of the mat communities. The two mat samples differ in their Thiotichales:Alteromonadales ratio and contribution of Bacteroidetes to overall diversity. The red mats have a greater proportion of Alteromonadales and Bacteroidetes reads. The distinct bacterial composition of the mat bacterial communities suggests that the spring communities are not sourced from the surface, and that seasonal melt events create ephemerally habitable niches with distinct microbial communities in the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Axel Heiberg Island permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Heiberg ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) Axel Heiberg Island ENVELOPE(-91.001,-91.001,79.752,79.752) Frontiers in Microbiology 8 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
cold spring Mars analog permafrost phsycrophile microbial ecology Microbiology QR1-502 |
spellingShingle |
cold spring Mars analog permafrost phsycrophile microbial ecology Microbiology QR1-502 Haley M. Sapers Jennifer Ronholm Isabelle Raymond-Bouchard Raven Comrey Gordon R. Osinski Lyle G. Whyte Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
topic_facet |
cold spring Mars analog permafrost phsycrophile microbial ecology Microbiology QR1-502 |
description |
While many habitable niches on Earth are characterized by permanently cold conditions, little is known about the spatial structure of seasonal communities and the importance of substrate-cell associations in terrestrial cyroenvironments. Here we use the 16S rRNA gene as a marker for genetic diversity to compare two visually distinct but spatially integrated surface microbial mats on Axel Heiberg Island, Canadian high arctic, proximal to a perennial saline spring. This is the first study to describe the bacterial diversity in microbial mats on Axel Heiberg Island. The hypersaline springs on Axel Heiberg represent a unique analog to putative subsurface aquifers on Mars. The Martian subsurface represents the longest-lived potentially habitable environment on Mars and a better understanding of the microbial communities on Earth that thrive in analog conditions will help direct future life detection missions. The microbial mats sampled on Axel Heiberg are only visible during the summer months in seasonal flood plains formed by melt water and run-off from the proximal spring. Targeted-amplicon sequencing revealed that not only does the bacterial composition of the two mat communities differ substantially from the sediment community of the proximal cold spring, but that the mat communities are distinct from any other microbial community in proximity to the Arctic springs studied to date. All samples are dominated by Gammaproteobacteria: Thiotichales is dominant within the spring samples while Alteromonadales comprises a significant component of the mat communities. The two mat samples differ in their Thiotichales:Alteromonadales ratio and contribution of Bacteroidetes to overall diversity. The red mats have a greater proportion of Alteromonadales and Bacteroidetes reads. The distinct bacterial composition of the mat bacterial communities suggests that the spring communities are not sourced from the surface, and that seasonal melt events create ephemerally habitable niches with distinct microbial communities in the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Haley M. Sapers Jennifer Ronholm Isabelle Raymond-Bouchard Raven Comrey Gordon R. Osinski Lyle G. Whyte |
author_facet |
Haley M. Sapers Jennifer Ronholm Isabelle Raymond-Bouchard Raven Comrey Gordon R. Osinski Lyle G. Whyte |
author_sort |
Haley M. Sapers |
title |
Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
title_short |
Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
title_full |
Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
title_fullStr |
Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biological Characterization of Microenvironments in a Hypersaline Cold Spring Mars Analog |
title_sort |
biological characterization of microenvironments in a hypersaline cold spring mars analog |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 https://doaj.org/article/b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(13.964,13.964,66.424,66.424) ENVELOPE(-91.001,-91.001,79.752,79.752) |
geographic |
Arctic Heiberg Axel Heiberg Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Heiberg Axel Heiberg Island |
genre |
Arctic Axel Heiberg Island permafrost |
genre_facet |
Arctic Axel Heiberg Island permafrost |
op_source |
Frontiers in Microbiology, Vol 8 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527/full https://doaj.org/toc/1664-302X 1664-302X doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 https://doaj.org/article/b0b04e1e24574d34973cc749336eeb96 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02527 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Microbiology |
container_volume |
8 |
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1766334041414434816 |