Coleine Claudia, Pombubpa Nuttapon, Zucconi Laura, Onofri Silvano, Turchetti Benedetta, Buzzini Pietro, Stajich Jason E, Selbmann Laura
Department of Ecological and Biological Sciences, University of Tuscia, 01100 Viterbo, Italy.
Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside 92521, CA, USA.
Microorganisms. 2020 Jun 23;8(6):942. doi: 10.3390/microorganisms8060942.
The endolithic niche represents an ultimate refuge to microorganisms in the Mars-like environment of the Antarctic desert. In an era of rapid global change and desertification, the interest in these border ecosystems is increasing due to speculation on how they maintain balance and functionality at the dry limits of life. To assure a reliable estimation of microbial diversity, proper sampling must be planned in order to avoid the necessity of re-sampling as reaching these remote locations is risky and requires tremendous logistical and economical efforts. In this study, we seek to determine the minimum number of samples for uncovering comprehensive bacterial and fungal diversity, comparing communities in strict vicinity to each other. We selected three different locations of the Victoria Land (Continental Antarctica) at different altitudes and showing sandstone outcrops of a diverse nature and origin-Battleship promontory (834 m above sea level (a.s.l.), Southern VL), Trio Nunatak (1,470 m a.s.l., Northern VL) and Mt New Zealand (3,100 m a.s.l., Northern VL). Overall, we found that a wider sampling would be required to capture the whole amplitude of microbial diversity, particularly in Northern VL. We concluded that the inhomogeneity of the rock matrix and the stronger environmental pressure at higher altitudes may force the communities to a higher local diversification.
在南极沙漠类似火星的环境中，石内生态位是微生物的终极避难所。在全球快速变化和沙漠化的时代，由于人们猜测这些边缘生态系统如何在生命的干旱极限维持平衡和功能，对它们的兴趣与日俱增。为确保对微生物多样性进行可靠估计，必须规划适当的采样，以避免重新采样的必要性，因为到达这些偏远地点风险很大，且需要巨大的后勤和经济投入。在本研究中，我们试图确定用于揭示全面细菌和真菌多样性的最小样本数量，比较彼此紧邻区域的群落。我们在维多利亚地（南极大陆）选择了三个不同海拔的地点，这些地点有不同性质和来源的砂岩露头——战列舰海角（海拔834米，南维多利亚地）、特里奥冰原岛峰（海拔1470米，北维多利亚地）和新西兰山（海拔3100米，北维多利亚地）。总体而言，我们发现需要更广泛的采样来捕捉微生物多样性的全部范围，特别是在北维多利亚地。我们得出结论，岩石基质的不均匀性以及较高海拔处更强的环境压力可能迫使群落实现更高程度的局部分化。
