Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA.
Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes. 2024 Sep 3;10(1):78. doi: 10.1038/s41522-024-00547-z.
Protists are less studied for their role and diversity in ecosystems. Notably, protists have played and still play an important role in microbialites. Microbialites, or lithified microbial mats, represent the oldest evidence of fossil biofilms (~3.5 Gyr). Modern microbialites may offer a unique proxy to study the potential role of protists within a geological context. We examined protist diversity in freshwater (Kelly and Pavilion Lake in British Columbia, Canada) and marine (Highborne Cay, Bahamas) to hypersaline (Shark Bay, Australia) microbialites to decipher their geomicrobiological role. The freshwater microbialite communities were clearly distinct from their marine and hypersaline counterparts. Chlorophytes had higher numerical abundance in freshwater microbialites; whereas pennate diatoms dominated numerically in marine microbialites. Despite the differences, protists across ecosystems may have adopted similar roles and functions. We suggest a consistent biogeochemical role of protists across microbialites globally; but that salinity may shape protist composition and evolution in these ecosystems.
与它们在生态系统中的作用和多样性相比，原生动物的研究还不够充分。值得注意的是，原生动物在微生物岩中发挥了重要作用，而且至今仍然发挥着重要作用。微生物岩，或石化微生物席，代表了最古老的化石生物膜的证据（~35 亿年）。现代微生物岩可能为研究原生动物在地质背景下的潜在作用提供了一个独特的替代物。我们检查了淡水（加拿大不列颠哥伦比亚省的凯利和 Pavilion Lake）、海洋（巴哈马的 Highborne Cay）和咸水（澳大利亚的鲨鱼湾）微生物岩中的原生动物多样性，以破译它们的地质微生物学作用。淡水微生物岩群落与海洋和咸水微生物岩群落明显不同。绿藻在淡水微生物岩中的数量较多；而羽纹硅藻在海洋微生物岩中占据主导地位。尽管存在差异，但不同生态系统中的原生动物可能具有相似的作用和功能。我们认为，原生动物在全球微生物岩中具有一致的生物地球化学作用；但盐度可能会影响这些生态系统中原生动物的组成和进化。
