Biogeographical distribution and ecological ranges of benthic cyanobacteria in East Antarctic lakes

• Published in: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
• Main Authors: Arnaud, T, Grubisic, S, Balthasart, P, Hodgson, DA, Laybourn-Parry, J, Wilmott, A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer New York LLC 2006
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Antarctic; Vestfold Hills; Vestfold; Larsemann Hills; Four Lakes; Rauer Islands; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://interscience.wiley.com; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00110.x; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16867145; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/49042

For the first time, the cyanobacterial diversity from microbial mats in lakes ofEastern Antarctica was investigated using microscopic and molecular approaches.The present study assessed the biogeographical distribution of cyanobacteria inAntarctica. Five samples were taken from four lakes spanning a range of differentecological environments in Larsemann Hills, Vestfold Hills and Rauer Islands toevaluate the influence of lake characteristics on the cyanobacterial diversity.Seventeen morphospecies and 28 16S rRNA gene-based operational taxonomicunits belonging to the Oscillatoriales, Nostocales and Chroococcales were identified.The internal transcribed spacer was evaluated to complement the 16S rRNAgene data and showed similar but more clear-cut tendencies. The molecularapproach suggested that potential Antarctic endemic species, including a previouslyundiscovered diversity, are more abundant than has been estimated bymorphological methods. Moreover, operational taxonomic units, also foundoutside Antarctica, were more widespread over the continent than potentialendemics. The cyanobacterial diversity of the most saline lakes was found to differfrom the others, and correlations between the sampling depth and the cyanobacterialcommunities can also be drawn. Comparison with database sequencesillustrated the ubiquity of several cyanobacterial operational taxonomic units andtheir remarkable range of tolerance to harsh environmental conditions.