Biology
Scientific paper
Dec 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufm.b11d..07v&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #B11D-07
Biology
0406 Astrobiology And Extraterrestrial Materials, 0414 Biogeochemical Cycles, Processes, And Modeling (0412, 0793, 1615, 4805, 0420 Biomolecular And Chemical Tracers, 1055 Organic And Biogenic Geochemistry
Scientific paper
We report lipid biomarker distributions and microbial diversity of endoevaporitic microbial communities from the gypsum crystallizer pond (Pond #9; ~170 % salinity) at the Exportadora de Sal, (ESSA) salt works in Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. According to phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA sequences, gypsum crusts from this system host stratified communities of unicellular cyanobacteria (orange Euhalothece), filamentous cyanobacteria (green Oscillatoria), purple sulfur bacteria (Chromatium), and other halophilic microorganisms. Lipids collected from spatially discrete horizons of the crust indicate a shift in C16, C18 and C19 fatty acids from lower concentrations in the upper aerobic layers to higher concentrations in the deeper anaerobic zones of the crust. Compound specific isotopic analyses (CSIA) of fatty acids differentiate the more abundant C16, C18 and C19 homologues as isotopically lighter (~ -20% to -25% δ13C VPDB) from C15, C17 and C20 homologues which are isotopically heavier (~ -14% to -19% δ13C VPDB) and occur in lower abundance. CSIA of multiple compound classes reveals that gypsum domain lipids have significantly lighter δ13C values than those of lipids from the laminated benthic microbial mats living at lower salinities (i.e. ~100% to 115% salinity) in the ESSA system. This isotopic effect is consistent with intensive internal nutrient cycling within the crust. Squalane/squalene were detected in extracts from the gypsum crust indicating the presence of archaea. Diploptene is the most abundant triterpenoid of the C28 C32 hopanoids. Branched alkanes with quaternary substituted carbons (BAQCs) were also detected. These compounds have been linked with sulfur oxidizing microbial activity, which is known to be a major respiratory process in the crust's internal O2 budget (Sørensen et al., 2004). Abundant organosulfur compounds (OSC) and thiacycloalkanes in extracts indicate a vigorous internal sulfur cycle that influences both microbial populations and organic matter diagenesis. This locality is relevant to extremophile studies because it is a biological analogue for evaporite deposits recently discovered on Mars and constitutes a complex hypersaline ecosystem where extreme sulfate concentrations affect carbon and oxygen cycles.
Des Marais David J.
Jahnke Lukas
Kubo M. D.
Turk Kendra A.
Vogel Marilyn B.
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