03274nas a2200313   4500008004100000245011700041210006900158260001200227300001100239490000700250520227300257653001502530653002502545653001802570653002702588653002802615653002302643653001902666100002202685700002802707700002302735700002302758700002502781700002202806700002202828700001502850700002302865856007202888       2022                        eng d00aLipid biomarkers from microbial mats on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica: Signatures for life in the cryosphere0 aLipid biomarkers from microbial mats on the McMurdo Ice Shelf An  c06/2022  a9036210 v133 a<p>Persistent cold temperatures, a paucity of nutrients, freeze-thaw cycles, and the strongly seasonal light regime make Antarctica one of Earth&rsquo;s least hospitable surface environments for complex life. Cyanobacteria, however, are well-adapted to such conditions and are often the dominant primary producers in Antarctic inland water environments. In particular, the network of meltwater ponds on the &lsquo;dirty ice&rsquo; of the McMurdo Ice Shelf is an ecosystem with extensive cyanobacteria-dominated microbial mat accumulations. This study investigated intact polar lipids (IPLs), heterocyte glycolipids (HGs), and bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) in combination with 16S and 18S rRNA gene diversity in microbial mats of twelve ponds in this unique polar ecosystem. To constrain the effects of nutrient availability, temperature and freeze-thaw cycles on the lipid membrane composition, lipids were compared to stromatolite-forming cyanobacterial mats from ice-covered lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys as well as from (sub)tropical regions and hot springs. The 16S rRNA gene compositions of the McMurdo Ice Shelf mats confirm the dominance of Cyanobacteria and Proteobacteria while the 18S rRNA gene composition indicates the presence of Ochrophyta, Chlorophyta, Ciliophora, and other microfauna. IPL analyses revealed a predominantly bacterial community in the meltwater ponds, with archaeal lipids being barely detectable. IPLs are dominated by glycolipids and phospholipids, followed by aminolipids. The high abundance of sugar-bound lipids accords with a predominance of cyanobacterial primary producers. The phosphate-limited samples from the (sub)tropical, hot spring, and Lake Vanda sites revealed a higher abundance of aminolipids compared to those of the nitrogen-limited meltwater ponds, affirming the direct affects that N and P availability have on IPL compositions. The high abundance of polyunsaturated IPLs in the Antarctic microbial mats suggests that these lipids provide an important mechanism to maintain membrane fluidity in cold environments. High abundances of HG keto-ols and HG keto-diols, produced by heterocytous cyanobacteria, further support these findings and reveal a unique distribution compared to those from warmer climates.</p>10aAntarctica10abacteriohopanepolyol10acyanobacteria10aheterocyte glycolipids10ahomeoviscous adaptation10aintact polar lipid10amicrobial mats1 aEvans, Thomas, W.1 aKalambokidis, Maria, J.1 aJungblut, Anne, D.1 aMillar, Jasmin, L.1 aBauersachs, Thorsten1 aGrotheer, Hendrik1 aMackey, Tyler, J.1 aHawes, Ian1 aSummons, Roger, E.  uhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.903621/full02314nas a2200265   4500008004100000245012500041210006900166260001200235490000700247520147000254653001501724653001101739653001701750653001801767653001101785653004001796100002201836700001501858700002301873700002201896700002401918700002101942700002101963856006401984       2020                        eng d00aEnergetic and environmental constraints on the community structure of benthic microbial mats in Lake Fryxell, Antarctica0 aEnergetic and environmental constraints on the community structu  c02/20200 v963 a<p>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 (O<sub>2</sub>). The microbial mats growing on the bottom of Lake Fryxell, Antarctica, have well-defined environmental gradients in PAR and (O<sub>2</sub>). 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 (O<sub>2</sub>) and PAR conditions: high (O<sub>2</sub>) and maximum PAR, variable (O<sub>2</sub>) with lower maximum PAR, and low (O<sub>2</sub>) 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 (O<sub>2</sub>) was saturated, PAR structured the community. In contrast, (O<sub>2</sub>) 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 (O<sub>2</sub>). The comprehensive metagenomic analysis suggests that the benthic microbial communities in Lake Fryxell are structured by energy flow across both meter- and millimeter-scales.</p>10aAntarctica10aenergy10aLake Fryxell10amicrobial mat10aOxygen10aPhotosynthetically Active Radiation1 aDillon, Megan, L.1 aHawes, Ian1 aJungblut, Anne, D.1 aMackey, Tyler, J.1 aEisen, Jonathan, A.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aSumner, Dawn, Y.  uhttps://academic.oup.com/femsec/article/96/2/fiz207/5697196