PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Modern microbial mats are relictual communities mostly found in extreme environments worldwide. Despite their significance as representatives of the ancestral Earth and their important roles in biogeochemical cycling, research on microbial mats has largely been localized, focusing on site-specific descriptions and environmental change experiments. Here, we present a global comparative analysis of non-lithifying microbial mats, integrating environmental measurements with metagenomic data from 62 samples across eight sites, including two new samples from the recently discovered Archaean Domes from Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. Our results revealed a notable influence of environmental filtering on both taxonomic and functional compositions of microbial mats. Functional redundancy appears to confer resilience to mats, with essential metabolic pathways conserved across diverse and highly contrasting habitats. We identified six highly correlated clusters of taxa performing similar ecological functions, suggesting niche partitioning and functional specialization as key mechanisms shaping community structure. Our findings provide insights into the ecological principles governing microbial mats, and lay the foundation for future research elucidating the intricate interplay between environmental factors and microbial community dynamics.
摘要：
现代微生物垫是主要在全球极端环境中发现的相对论群落。尽管它们作为祖先地球的代表具有重要意义，并且在生物地球化学循环中发挥了重要作用，对微生物垫的研究大部分是本地化的，专注于特定地点的描述和环境变化实验。这里,我们对非锂化微生物垫进行了全球比较分析，将环境测量与来自八个地点的62个样本的宏基因组数据相结合，包括来自CuatroCiénegas最近发现的古生圆顶的两个新样本，墨西哥。我们的结果表明，环境过滤对微生物垫的分类和功能组成均有显着影响。功能冗余似乎赋予垫子弹性，基本的代谢途径在不同和高度对比的栖息地中保守。我们确定了六个具有相似生态功能的高度相关分类群，提出生态位划分和功能专业化是塑造社区结构的关键机制。我们的发现提供了对控制微生物垫的生态学原理的见解，为阐明环境因素与微生物群落动态之间复杂的相互作用奠定基础。
