The enigma of prokaryotic life in deep hypersaline anoxic basins

Deep hypersaline anoxic basins in the Mediterranean Sea are a legacy of dissolution of ancient subterranean salt deposits from the Miocene period. Our study revealed that these hypersaline basins are not biogeochemical dead ends, but support in situ sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, and heterotroph...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science
Main Authors: P. W. J. J. van der Wielen, H. Bolhuis, C. Corselli, L. Giuliano, G. D'Auria, G. J. de Lange, A. Huebner, S. P. Varnavas, J. Thomson, C. Tamburini, D. Marty, T. J. McGenity, K. N. Timmis, BioDeep Scientific Party, S. Borin, D.G. Daffonchio
Other Authors: P.W.J.J. van der Wielen, H. Bolhui, G.J. de Lange, S.P. Varnava, T.J. Mcgenity, K.N. Timmi, B. Scientific Party
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2005
Subjects:
Eastern Mediterranean-Sea
Dead-Sea
Bannock Basins
Sp-Nov
Brines
Water
Environment
Antarctica
Discovery
Sediments
Settore AGR/16 - Microbiologia Agraria
Antarc*
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2434/31218
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1103569
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/307/5706/121
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Summary:Deep hypersaline anoxic basins in the Mediterranean Sea are a legacy of dissolution of ancient subterranean salt deposits from the Miocene period. Our study revealed that these hypersaline basins are not biogeochemical dead ends, but support in situ sulfate reduction, methanogenesis, and heterotrophic activity. A wide diversity of prokaryotes was observed, including a new, abundant, deeply branching order within the Euryarchaeota. Furthermore, we demonstrated the presence of a unique,. metabolically active microbial community in the Discovery basin, which is one of the most extreme terrestrial saline environments known, as it is almost saturated with MgCl2 (5 M).

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