Dataset Information

Endolithic Fungal Species Markers for Harshest Conditions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

ABSTRACT: The microbial communities that inhabit lithic niches inside sandstone in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys of life's limits on Earth. The cryptoendolithic communities survive in these ice-free areas that have the lowest temperatures on Earth coupled with strong thermal fluctuations, extreme aridity, oligotrophy and high levels of solar and UV radiation. In this study, based on DNA metabarcoding, targeting the fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer region 1 (ITS1) and multivariate statistical analyses, we supply the first comprehensive overview onto the fungal diversity and composition of these communities sampled over a broad geographic area of the Antarctic hyper-arid cold desert. Six locations with surfaces that experience variable sun exposure were sampled to compare communities from a common area across a gradient of environmental pressure. The Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) identified were primarily members of the Ascomycota phylum, comprised mostly of the Lecanoromycetes and Dothideomycetes classes. The fungal species Friedmanniomyces endolithicus, endemic to Antarctica, was found to be a marker species to the harshest conditions occurring in the shady, south exposed rock surfaces. Analysis of community composition showed that sun exposure was an environmental property that explained community diversity and structured endolithic colonization.

SUBMITTER: Coleine C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7175349 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Endolithic Fungal Species Markers for Harshest Conditions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

Coleine Claudia C Pombubpa Nuttapon N Zucconi Laura L Onofri Silvano S Stajich Jason E JE Selbmann Laura L

Life (Basel, Switzerland) 20200206 2

The microbial communities that inhabit lithic niches inside sandstone in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys of life's limits on Earth. The cryptoendolithic communities survive in these ice-free areas that have the lowest temperatures on Earth coupled with strong thermal fluctuations, extreme aridity, oligotrophy and high levels of solar and UV radiation. In this study, based on DNA metabarcoding, targeting the fungal Internal Transcribed Spacer region 1 (ITS1) and multivariate statistical analyse ...[more]

PMID: 32041249

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Project description:Polar ecosystems are generally limited in nitrogen (N) nutrients, and the patchy availability of N is partly determined by biological pathways, such as nitrification, which are carried out by distinctive prokaryotic functional groups. The activity and diversity of microorganisms are generally strongly influenced by environmental conditions. However, we know little of the attributes that control the distribution and activity of specific microbial functional groups, such as nitrifiers, in extreme cold environments and how they may respond to change. To ascertain relationships between soil geochemistry and the ecology of nitrifying microbial communities, we carried out a laboratory-based manipulative experiment to test the selective effect of key geochemical variables on the activity and abundance of ammonia-oxidizing communities in soils from the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. We hypothesized that nitrifying communities, adapted to different environmental conditions within the Dry Valleys, will have distinct responses when submitted to similar geochemical disturbances. In order to test this hypothesis, soils from two geographically distant and geochemically divergent locations, Miers and Beacon Valleys, were incubated over 2 months under increased conductivity, ammonia concentration, copper concentration, and organic matter content. Amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and transcripts allowed comparison of the response of ammonia-oxidizing Archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) to each treatment over time. This approach was combined with measurements of 15NH4+ oxidation rates using 15N isotopic additions. Our results showed a higher potential for nitrification in Miers Valley, where environmental conditions are milder relative to Beacon Valley. AOA exhibited better adaptability to geochemical changes compared to AOB, particularly to the increase in copper and conductivity. AOA were also the only nitrifying group found in Beacon Valley soils. This laboratorial manipulative experiment provided new knowledge on how nitrifying groups respond to changes on key geochemical variables of Antarctic desert soils, and we believe these results offer new insights on the dynamics of N cycling in these ecosystems.

Dataset Information

Endolithic Fungal Species Markers for Harshest Conditions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

Publications

Endolithic Fungal Species Markers for Harshest Conditions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.

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