Modern terrestrial analogues for the carbonate globules in Martian meteorite ALH84001

Microbial community of soda Lake Van as obtained from direct and enriched water, sediment and fish samples

Soda lakes are saline and alkaline ecosystems that are considered to have existed since the first geological records of the world. These lakes support the growth of ecologically and economically important microorganisms due to their unique geochemistry. Microbiota members of lakes are valuable models to study the link between community structure and abiotic parameters such as pH and salinity. Lake Van is the largest endroheic lake and in this study, bacterial diversity of lake water, sediment, and pearl mullet (inci kefali; Alburnus tarichi), an endemic species of fish which are collected from different points of the lake, are studied directly and investigated meticulously using a metabarcoding approach after pre-enrichment. Bacterial community structures were identified using Next Generation Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. The analysis revealed that the samples of Lake Van contain high level of bacterial diversity. Direct water samples were dominated by Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, and Bacteroidota, on the other hand, pre-enriched water samples were dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes at phylum-level. In direct sediment samples Proteobacteria, whereas in pre-enriched sediment samples Firmicutes and Proteobacteria were determined at highest level. Pre-enriched fish samples were dominated by Proteobacteria and Firmicutes at phylum-level. In this study, microbiota members of Lake Van were identified by taxonomic analysis.

Organic and mineral imprints in fossil photosynthetic mats of an East Antarctic lake

Lacustrine microbial mats in Antarctic ice-free oases are considered modern analogues of early microbial ecosystems as their primary production is generally dominated by cyanobacteria, the heterotrophic food chain typically truncated due to extreme environmental conditions, and they are geographically isolated. To better understand early fossilization and mineralization processes in this context, we studied the microstructure and chemistry of organo-mineral associations in a suite of sediments 50-4530 cal. years old from a lake in Skarvsnes, Lützow Holm Bay, East Antarctica. First, we report an exceptional preservation of fossil autotrophs and their biomolecules on millennial timescales. The pigment scytonemin is preserved inside cyanobacterial sheaths. As non-pigmented sheaths are also preserved, scytonemin likely played little role in the preservation of sheath polysaccharides, which have been cross-linked by ether bonds. Coccoids preserved thylakoids and autofluorescence of pigments such as carotenoids. This exceptional preservation of autotrophs in the fossil mats argues for limited biodegradation during and after deposition. Moreover, cell-shaped aggregates preserved sulfur-rich nanoglobules, supporting fossilization of instable intracellular byproducts of chemotrophic or phototrophic S-oxidizers. Second, we report a diversity of micro- to nanostructured CaCO3 precipitates intimately associated with extracellular polymeric substances, cyanobacteria, and/or other prokaryotes. Micro-peloids Type 1 display features that distinguish them from known carbonates crystallized in inorganic conditions: (i) Type 1A are often filled with globular nanocarbonates and/or surrounded by a fibrous fringe, (ii) Type 1B are empty and display ovoid to wrinkled fringes of nanocrystallites that can be radially oriented (fibrous or triangular) or multilayered, and (iii) all show small-size variations. Type 2 rounded carbonates 1-2 μm in diameter occurring inside autofluorescent spheres interpreted as coccoidal bacteria may represent fossils of intracellular calcification. These organo-mineral associations support organically driven nanocarbonate crystallization and stabilization, hence providing potential markers for microbial calcification in ancient rocks.

Constraining carbon sources and growth rates of freshwater microbialites in Pavilion Lake using (14)C analysis

This study determined the natural abundance isotopic compositions ((13)C, (14)C) of the primary carbon pools and microbial communities associated with modern freshwater microbialites located in Pavilion Lake, British Columbia, Canada. The Delta(14)C of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was constant throughout the water column and consistent with a primarily atmospheric source. Observed depletions in DIC (14)C values compared with atmospheric CO(2) indicated effects due either to DIC residence time and/or inputs of (14)C-depleted groundwater. Mass balance comparisons of local and regional groundwater indicate that groundwater DIC could contribute a maximum of 9-13% of the DIC. (14)C analysis of microbial phospholipid fatty acids from microbialite communities had Delta(14)C values comparable with lake water DIC, demonstrating that lake water DIC was their primary carbon source. Microbialite carbonate was also primarily derived from DIC. However, some depletion in microbialite carbonate (14)C relative to lake water DIC occurred, due either to residence time or mixing with a (14)C-depleted carbon source. A detrital branch covered with microbialite growth was used to estimate a microbialite growth rate of 0.05 mm year(-1) for the past 1000 years, faster than previous estimates for this system. These results demonstrate that the microbialites are actively growing and that the primary carbon source for both microbial communities and recent carbonate is DIC originating from the atmosphere. While these data cannot conclusively differentiate between abiotic and biotic formation mechanisms, the evidence for minor inputs of groundwater-derived DIC is consistent with the previously hypothesized biological origin of the Pavilion Lake microbialites.

Nanoscale detection of organic signatures in carbonate microbialites

Microbialites are sedimentary deposits associated with microbial mat communities and are thought to be evidence of some of the oldest life on Earth. Despite extensive studies of such deposits, little is known about the role of microorganisms in their formation. In addition, unambiguous criteria proving their biogenicity have yet to be established. In this study, we characterize modern calcareous microbialites from the alkaline Lake Van, Turkey, at the nanometer scale by combining x-ray and electron microscopies. We describe a simple way to locate microorganisms entombed in calcium carbonate precipitates by probing aromatic carbon functional groups and peptide bonds. Near-edge x-ray absorption fine structure spectra at the C and N K-edges provide unique signatures for microbes. Aragonite crystals, which range in size from 30 to 100 nm, comprise the largest part of the microbialites. These crystals are surrounded by a 10-nm-thick amorphous calcium carbonate layer containing organic molecules and are embedded in an organic matrix, likely consisting of polysaccharides, which helps explain the unusual sizes and shapes of these crystals. These results provide biosignatures for these deposits and suggest that microbial organisms significantly impacted the mineralogy of Lake Van carbonates.

Bacterial diversity and carbonate precipitation in the giant microbialites from the highly alkaline Lake Van, Turkey

Lake Van harbors the largest known microbialites on Earth. The surface of these huge carbonate pinnacles is covered by coccoid cyanobacteria whereas their central axis is occupied by a channel through which neutral, relatively Ca-enriched, groundwater flows into highly alkaline (pH approximately 9.7) Ca-poor lake water. Previous microscopy observations showed the presence of aragonite globules composed by rounded nanostructures of uncertain origin that resemble similar bodies found in some meteorites. Here, we have carried out fine-scale mineralogical and microbial diversity analyses from surface and internal microbialite samples. Electron transmission microscopy revealed that the nanostructures correspond to rounded aragonite nanoprecipitates. A progressive mineralization of cells by the deposition of nanoprecipitates on their surface was observed from external towards internal microbialite areas. Molecular diversity studies based on 16S rDNA amplification revealed the presence of bacterial lineages affiliated to the Alpha-, Beta- and Gammaproteobacteria, the Cyanobacteria, the Cytophaga-Flexibacter-Bacteroides (CFB) group, the Actinobacteria and the Firmicutes. Cyanobacteria and CFB members were only detected in surface layers. The most abundant and diverse lineages were the Firmicutes (low GC Gram positives). To the exclusion of cyanobacteria, the closest cultivated members to the Lake Van phylotypes were most frequently alkaliphilic and/or heterotrophic bacteria able to degrade complex organics. These heterotrophic bacteria may play a crucial role in the formation of Lake Van microbialites by locally promoting carbonate precipitation.