Endolithic microbial habitats as refuges for life in polyextreme environment of the Atacama Desert
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2018
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Elsevier
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Wierzchos J, Casero MC, Artieda O, Ascaso C. Endolithic microbial habitats as refuges for life in polyextreme environment of the Atacama Desert. Current Opinion in Microbiology. 2018 Jun;43:124-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.mib.2018.01.003.
Abstract
The extremely harsh conditions of hyperarid deserts are a true challenge for microbial life. Microorganisms thriving in such polyextreme environments are fascinating as they can tell us more about life, its strategies and its boundaries than other groups of organisms. The Atacama Desert (North Chile) holds two world records of extreme environmental characteristics: the lowest rainfall and greatest surface ultraviolet radiation and total solar irradiance ever measured on Earth. Despite these limiting conditions for life, we recently identified several remarkable examples of endolithic habitats colonized by phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms in the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert.
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The authors wish to thank J. DiRuggiero, P. Vítek, V. B. Gomez-Silva, V. Meslier and A. F. Davila for contribution in previous common articles and valuable conversations and scientific debates also during common expeditions to the Atacama Desert. We also thank the MNCN — CSIC Microscopy Service staff and V. Souza-Egipsy (Inst. Estructura de la Materia — CSIC, Madrid), I. Sanchez Almagro (CIC — Univ. Granada) and M. Roldán (Univ. Autonoma, Barcelona) for technical assistance and Ana Burton for editorial assistance. This work was supported by a grant CGL2013-42509P for all authors from MINECO, Spain.