@article {4395, title = {Energetic and environmental constraints on the community structure of benthic microbial mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {FEMS Microbiology Ecology}, volume = {96}, year = {2020}, month = {02/2020}, abstract = {

Ecological communities are regulated by the flow of energy through environments. Energy flow is typically limited by access to photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and oxygen concentration (O2). The microbial mats growing on the bottom of Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, have well-defined environmental gradients in PAR and (O2). We analyzed the metagenomes of layers from these microbial mats to test the extent to which access to oxygen and light controls community structure. We found variation in the diversity and relative abundances of Archaea, Bacteria and Eukaryotes across three (O2) and PAR conditions: high (O2) and maximum PAR, variable (O2) with lower maximum PAR, and low (O2) and maximum PAR. We found distinct communities structured by the optimization of energy use on a millimeter-scale across these conditions. In mat layers where (O2) was saturated, PAR structured the community. In contrast, (O2) positively correlated with diversity and affected the distribution of dominant populations across the three habitats, suggesting that meter-scale diversity is structured by energy availability. Microbial communities changed across covarying gradients of PAR and (O2). The comprehensive metagenomic analysis suggests that the benthic microbial communities in Lake Fryxell are structured by energy flow across both meter- and millimeter-scales.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, energy, Lake Fryxell, microbial mat, Oxygen, Photosynthetically Active Radiation}, doi = {10.1093/femsec/fiz207}, url = {https://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/96/2/fiz207/5697196}, author = {Dillon, Megan L. and Ian Hawes and Jungblut, Anne D. and Mackey, Tyler J. and Eisen, Jonathan A. and Peter T. Doran and Sumner, Dawn Y.} } @article {4582, title = {Environmental control on the distribution of metabolic strategies of benthic microbial mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {15}, year = {2020}, month = {04/2020}, pages = {e0231053}, abstract = {

Ecological theories posit that heterogeneity in environmental conditions greatly affects community structure and function. However, the degree to which ecological theory developed using plant- and animal-dominated systems applies to microbiomes is unclear. Investigating the metabolic strategies found in microbiomes are particularly informative for testing the universality of ecological theories because microorganisms have far wider metabolic capacity than plants and animals. We used metagenomic analyses to explore the relationships between the energy and physicochemical gradients in Lake Fryxell and the metabolic capacity of its benthic microbiome. Statistical analysis of the relative abundance of metabolic marker genes and gene family diversity shows that oxygenic photosynthesis, carbon fixation, and flavin-based electron bifurcation differentiate mats growing in different environmental conditions. The pattern of gene family diversity points to the likely importance of temporal environmental heterogeneity in addition to resource gradients. Overall, we found that the environmental heterogeneity of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and oxygen concentration ([O2]) in Lake Fryxell provide the framework by which metabolic diversity and composition of the community is structured, in accordance with its phylogenetic structure. The organization of the resulting microbial ecosystems are consistent with the maximum power principle and the species sorting model.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0231053}, url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0231053}, author = {Dillon, Megan L. and Hawes, Ian and Jungblut, Anne D. and Mackey, Tyler J. and Eisen, Jonathan A. and Peter T. Doran and Sumner, Dawn Y.} } @article {4294, title = {Environmental controls on bacteriohopanepolyol profiles of benthic microbial mats from Lake Fryxell, Antarctica}, journal = {Geobiology}, year = {2019}, month = {07/2019}, abstract = {

Bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) are pentacyclic triterpenoid lipids that contribute to the structural integrity and physiology of some bacteria. Because some BHPs originate from specific classes of bacteria, BHPs have potential as taxonomically and environmentally diagnostic biomarkers. For example, a stereoisomer of bacteriohopanetetrol (informally BHT II) has been associated with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) bacteria and suboxic to anoxic marine environments where anammox is active. As a result, the detection of BHT II in the sedimentary record and fluctuations in the relative abundance of BHT II may inform reconstructions of nitrogen cycling and ocean redox changes through the geological record. However, there are uncertainties concerning the sources of BHT II and whether or not BHT II is produced in abundance in non-marine environments, both of which are pertinent to interpretations of BHT II signatures in sediments. To address these questions, we investigate the BHP composition of benthic microbial mats from Lake Fryxell, Antarctica. Lake Fryxell is a perennially ice-covered lake with a sharp oxycline in a density-stabilized water column. We describe the diversity and abundance of BHPs in benthic microbial mats across a transect from oxic to anoxic conditions. Generally, BHP abundances and diversity vary with the morphologies of microbial mats, which were previously shown to reflect local environmental conditions, such as irradiance and oxygen and sulfide concentrations. BHT II was identified in mats that exist within oxic to anoxic portions of the lake. However, anammox bacteria have yet to be identified in Lake Fryxell. We examine our results in the context of BHPs as biomarkers in modern and ancient environments.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, anammox, bacteriohopanepolyol, bacteriohopanetetrol isomer, biomarker, McMurdo Dry Valleys}, doi = {10.1111/gbi.12353}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gbi.12353}, author = {Matys, Emily D. and Mackey, Tyler J. and Grettenberger, Christen and Mueller, Elliott and Jungblut, Anne D. and Sumner, Dawn Y. and Ian Hawes and Summons, Roger E.} }