RT Journal Article
T1 Fundamental drivers for endolithic microbial community assemblies in the hyperarid Atacama Desert
A1 Meslier, Victoria
A1 Casero, María Cristina
A1 Dailey, Micah
A1 Wierzchos, Jacek
A1 Ascaso, Carmen
A1 Artieda, Octavio
A1 McCullough, Peter
A1 DiRuggiero, Jocelyne
AB In hyperarid deserts, endolithic microbial communities colonize the rocks’ interior as a survival strategy. Yet, the composition of these communities and the drivers promoting their assembly are still poorly understood. We analysed the diversity and community composition of endoliths from four different lithic substrates – calcite, gypsum, ignimbrite and granite – collected in the hyperarid zone of the Atacama Desert, Chile. By combining microscopy, mineralogy, spectroscopy and high throughput sequencing, we found these communities to be highly specific to their lithic substrate, although they were all dominated by the same four main phyla, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Proteobacteria. Our finding indicates a fine scale diversification of the microbial reservoir driven by substrate properties. The data suggest that the overall rock chemistry and the light transmission properties of the substrates are not essential drivers of community structure and composition. Instead, we propose that the architecture of the rock, i.e., the space available for colonization and its physical structure, linked to water retention capabilities, is ultimately the driver of community diversity and composition at the dry limit of life.
PB Wiley
SN 1462-2912
YR 2018
FD 2018
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130381
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/130381
LA eng
NO Meslier, V., Casero, M.C., Dailey, M., Wierzchos, J., Ascaso, C., Artieda, O., McCullough, P.R. and DiRuggiero, J. (2018), Fundamental drivers for endolithic microbial community assemblies in the hyperarid Atacama Desert. Environ Microbiol, 20: 1765-1781. https://doi.org/10.1111/1462-2920.14106
NO Acknowledgements:This work was funded by grants NNX15AP18G and NNX15AK57G from NASA, grant DEB1556574 from the NSF to JDR and grant CGL2013-42509P from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness to JW, CA, OA, JDR and MCC.
NO National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NO National Science Foundation
NO Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (España)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 16 ene 2026