Biology – Quantitative Biology – Genomics
Scientific paper
Dec 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p51a1402s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P51A-1402
Biology
Quantitative Biology
Genomics
0414 Biogeochemical Cycles, Processes, And Modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 4912), 0424 Biosignatures And Proxies, 0448 Geomicrobiology, 0459 Macro- And Micropaleontology (3030, 4944), 0465 Microbiology: Ecology, Physiology And Genomics (4840)
Scientific paper
Modern analogs of ancient conical stromatolites are thought to be distinctly biogenic structures. To understand how biological processes shape these modern structures, we examine the early stages of cone- formation in enrichment cultures of cone-forming cyanobacteria from Yellowstone National Park. The growth of these communities can be divided into three stages: 1) lateral growth stage, 2) clump forming stage, and 3) cone forming stage. After the initial increase in cell density, gliding cyanobacterial filaments form 100-200 micrometer-diameter, regularly spaced clumps. Our measurements of oxygen profiles and photosynthetic rates show that both the photosynthetic and the respiratory rate are higher in the clumps than in the adjacent flat mat. If the clumps are dispersed, their gross photosynthetic rate decreases, showing that cyanobacteria benefit from living in the aggregate. Changes in environmental conditions such as light intensity, oxygen concentration or inorganic carbon concentration can lead to the disappearance of clumps or changes in their spacing in a predictable manner. Microscopic observations suggest that this increased metabolic activity in the clumps leads to the formation of numerous bubbles. As small bubbles raise the clump away from the mat, microbial growth and colonization continues on the newly elevated substrate and vertical structure develops. The repetition of this process in the presence of fast lithification could also have been responsible for the crestal thickening observed in some ancient conical stromatolites
Bosak Tanja
Liang Beiyuan
Petroff Alexander
Rothman D.
Sim M.
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