| Summary: | The BeSPO project CCAMBIO aims to study the biogeographical distribution of microorganisms in lacustrine microbial mats using a combination of techniques including microscopical observations (light and electronic), strain isolation, and molecular diversity assessment using Next Generation Sequencing. The samples were collected in different Antarctic and sub-Antarctic biogeographical regions. A multivariate analysis of diatoms showed that these regions hosted different diatom flora. Endemic diatom taxa were also observed, and a multigene molecular phylogeny of Pinnularia borealis showed a high genetic diversity. A new Scenedesmacean species was described from Antarctica, Chodatodesmus australis. A comparison of the bacterial diversity retrieved by cultivation or NGS showed a complementarity of both approaches and differences when different variable regions of the 16S rRNA gene were used. Novel and unclassified sequences, also observed by other authors, were obtained. Pilot studies were conducted for the microeukaryotes and cyanobacteria to select NGS protocols and bioinformatic pipelines. The purpose is to deposit the diversity data in the “Microbial Antarctic Resource System (MARS)” presently developed into the webportal ‘biodiversity.aq’. CCAMBIO
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