Sun exposure drives Antarctic cryptoendolithic community structure and composition

Coleine, Claudia; Stajich, Jason E.; Zucconi, Laura; Onofri, Silvano; Selbmann, Laura

doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02650-1

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…Although further efforts are required in future research to measure microclimatic conditions at these same nunataks, the previous works state that, inside rocks, temperature can be between 5 and 15°C above air temperature (Kirby et al, 2012;Amarelle et al, 2019), and extreme UVA and UVB values can be totally mitigated at less than 2 mm deep, even with translucent minerals (Wierzchos et al, 2015). Again, this scenario is in accordance to what has been previously described for lithic communities from other extreme environments, such as different locations within continental Antarctica, including the Antarctic Dry Valleys (De Los Ríos et al, 2007, 2014Coleine et al, 2020) and the Atacama Desert (Wierzchos et al, 2018), but in contrast to nearby Antarctic soils subjected to milder conditions, which have been described to harbor a much higher microbial diversity than rocks (Garrido-Benavent et al, 2020).…”

Section: Substrate Characteristics Also Explain Principal Differences In Microbial Community Structure and Biomarkers Distributionsupporting

confidence: 79%

“…Several Antarctic microbial taxa have developed strategies to colonize rocks as their primary niche (i.e., 'lithobionts'), following an avoidance strategy since rocks harbor a more stable environment inside (De Los Ríos et al, 2014;Yung et al, 2014;Coleine et al, 2020). Endolithic microorganisms can thus colonize different spaces within rocks: chasmoendoliths appear on cracks and fissures in contrast to cryptoendoliths, which grow on pores formed after weathering of rocks (Pointing et al, 2009;Cowan, 2014;De Los Ríos et al, 2014;Archer et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Geomicrobiological Heterogeneity of Lithic Habitats in the Extreme Environment of Antarctic Nunataks: A Potential Early Mars Analog

et al. 2021

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Nunataks are permanent ice-free rocky peaks that project above ice caps in polar regions, thus being exposed to extreme climatic conditions throughout the year. They undergo extremely low temperatures and scarcity of liquid water in winter, while receiving high incident and reflected (albedo) UVA-B radiation in summer. Here, we investigate the geomicrobiology of the permanently exposed lithic substrates of nunataks from Livingston Island (South Shetlands, Antarctic Peninsula), with focus on prokaryotic community structure and their main metabolic traits. Contrarily to first hypothesis, an extensive sampling based on different gradients and multianalytical approaches demonstrated significant differences for most geomicrobiological parameters between the bedrock, soil, and loose rock substrates, which overlapped any other regional variation. Brevibacillus genus dominated on bedrock and soil substrates, while loose rocks contained a diverse microbial community, including Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria and abundant Cyanobacteria inhabiting the milder and diverse microhabitats within. Archaea, a domain never described before in similar Antarctic environments, were also consistently found in the three substrates, but being more abundant and potentially more active in soils. Stable isotopic ratios of total carbon (δ 13C) and nitrogen (δ 15N), soluble anions concentrations, and the detection of proteins involved in key metabolisms via the Life Detector Chip (LDChip), suggest that microbial primary production has a pivotal role in nutrient cycling at these exposed areas with limited deposition of nutrients. Detection of stress-resistance proteins, such as molecular chaperons, suggests microbial molecular adaptation mechanisms to cope with these harsh conditions. Since early Mars may have encompassed analogous environmental conditions as the ones found in these Antarctic nunataks, our study also contributes to the understanding of the metabolic features and biomarker profiles of a potential Martian microbiota, as well as the use of LDChip in future life detection missions.

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Section: Substrate Characteristics Also Explain Principal Differences In Microbial Community Structure and Biomarkers Distributionsupporting

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomicrobiological Heterogeneity of Lithic Habitats in the Extreme Environment of Antarctic Nunataks: A Potential Early Mars Analog

et al. 2021

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“…We re‐analysed and compared samples collected in more than 40 sites spanning Northern and Southern Victoria Land during the XXVI and XXXI Italian Antarctic Expeditions (i.e. grouping samples according to geography as SVL, NVL and HH; see Methods), using Illumina sequencing of amplicon libraries that targeted fungal ITS region (Coleine et al ., 2018a, 2018b, 2020a, 2020b, 2020f) and bacterial 16S (Coleine et al ., 2019), to provide important insights regarding the biogeographic patterns of these microbial communities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Culturomic and high-throughput sequencing-based studies revealed a surprising prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbial diversity, with recurrent taxa exclusive to this habitat (Selbmann et al, 2005(Selbmann et al, , 2008(Selbmann et al, , 2014Adams et al, 2006;Selbmann et al, 2013a;Selbmann et al, 2013b;Egidi et al, 2014;Archer et al, 2017;Coleine et al, 2018aColeine et al, , 2019Coleine et al, , 2020bColeine et al, , 2020c. High-throughput sequencing-based studies informed that sun exposure plays a crucial role in the community composition, taxon abundance and distribution of functional groups of fungi in Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities (Archer et al, 2017;Coleine et al, 2018bColeine et al, , 2020d, affecting these ecosystems more than other abiotic parameters (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endolithic microbial composition in Helliwell Hills, a newly investigated Mars‐like area in Antarctica

Coleine

Biagioli

Vera

et al. 2021

Environmental Microbiology

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The diversity and composition of Antarctic cryptoendolithic microbial communities in the Marsanalogue site of Helliwell Hills (Northern Victoria Land, Continental Antarctica) are investigated, for the first time, applying both culture-dependent and highthroughput sequencing approaches. The study includes all the domains of the tree of life: Eukaryotes, Bacteria and Archaea to give a complete overview of biodiversity and community structure. Furthermore, to explore the geographic distribution of endoliths throughout the Victoria Land (Continental Antarctica), we compared the fungal and bacterial community composition and structure of endolithically colonized rocks, collected in >30 sites in 10 years of Italian Antarctic Expeditions. Compared with the fungi and other eukaryotes, the prokaryotic communities were richer in species, more diverse and highly heterogeneous. Despite the diverse community compositions, shared populations were found and were dominant in all sites. Local diversification was observed and included prokaryotes as members of Alphaproteobacteria and Crenarchaeota (Archaea), the last detected for the first time in these cryptoendolithic communities. Few eukaryotes, namely lichen-forming fungal species as Lecidella grenii, were detected in Helliwell Hills only. These findings suggest that geographic distance and isolation in these remote areas may promote the establishment of peculiar locally diversified microorganisms.

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“…Recent studies are elucidating the biodiversity, structure, and composition of Antarctic cryptoendolithic communities [ 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], including their spatial organization [ 35 ] and the influence of environmental factors (i.e., altitude and sun exposure) on shaping biodiversity and community composition of functional groups of fungi [ 36 ]. However, despite their paramount ecological importance, Antarctic endolithic communities are not well characterized in terms of their genomic repertoire and stress adaptations.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metabolomics of Dry Versus Reanimated Antarctic Lichen-Dominated Endolithic Communities

Fanelli

Coleine

Gevi

et al. 2021

Life

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Cryptoendolithic communities are almost the sole life form in the ice-free areas of the Antarctic desert, encompassing among the most extreme-tolerant organisms known on Earth that still assure ecosystems functioning, regulating nutrient and biogeochemical cycles under conditions accounted as incompatible with active life. If high-throughput sequencing based studies are unravelling prokaryotic and eukaryotic diversity, they are not yet characterized in terms of stress adaptations and responses, despite their paramount ecological importance. In this study, we compared the responses of Antarctic endolithic communities, with special focus on fungi, both under dry conditions (i.e., when dormant), and after reanimation by wetting, light, and optimal temperature (15 °C). We found that several metabolites were differently expressed in reanimated opposite sun exposed communities, suggesting a critical role in their success. In particular, the saccharopine pathway was up-regulated in the north surface, while the spermine/spermidine pathway was significantly down-regulated in the shaded exposed communities. The carnitine-dependent pathway is up-regulated in south-exposed reanimated samples, indicating the preferential involvement of the B-oxidation for the functioning of TCA cycle. The role of these metabolites in the performance of the communities is discussed herein.

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Sun exposure drives Antarctic cryptoendolithic community structure and composition

Cited by 4 publications

References 55 publications

Geomicrobiological Heterogeneity of Lithic Habitats in the Extreme Environment of Antarctic Nunataks: A Potential Early Mars Analog

Geomicrobiological Heterogeneity of Lithic Habitats in the Extreme Environment of Antarctic Nunataks: A Potential Early Mars Analog

Endolithic microbial composition in Helliwell Hills, a newly investigated Mars‐like area in Antarctica

Metabolomics of Dry Versus Reanimated Antarctic Lichen-Dominated Endolithic Communities

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