Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds.

Modern carbonate tufa towers in the alkaline (~pH 9.5) Big Soda Lake (BSL), Nevada, exhibit rapid precipitation rates (exceeding 3 cm/year) and host diverse microbial communities. Geochemical indicators reveal that carbonate precipitation is, in part, promoted by the mixing of calcium-rich groundwater and carbonate-rich lake water, such that a microbial role for carbonate precipitation is unknown. Here, we characterize the BSL microbial communities and evaluate their potential effects on carbonate precipitation that may influence fast carbonate precipitation rates of the active tufa mounds of BSL. Small subunit rRNA gene surveys indicate a diverse microbial community living endolithically, in interior voids, and on tufa surfaces. Metagenomic DNA sequencing shows that genes associated with metabolisms that are capable of increasing carbonate saturation (e.g., photosynthesis, ureolysis, and bicarbonate transport) are abundant. Enzyme activity assays revealed that urease and carbonic anhydrase, two microbial enzymes that promote carbonate precipitation, are active in situ in BSL tufa biofilms, and urease also increased calcium carbonate precipitation rates in laboratory incubation analyses. We propose that, although BSL tufas form partially as a result of water mixing, tufa-inhabiting microbiota promote rapid carbonate authigenesis via ureolysis, and potentially via bicarbonate dehydration and CO2 outgassing by carbonic anhydrase. Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation in BSL tufas may generate signatures preserved in the carbonate microfabric, such as stromatolitic layers, which could serve as models for developing potential biosignatures on Earth and elsewhere.

Living at the Extremes: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary Context.

Prokaryotic life has dominated most of the evolutionary history of our planet, evolving to occupy virtually all available environmental niches. Extremophiles, especially those thriving under multiple extremes, represent a key area of research for multiple disciplines, spanning from the study of adaptations to harsh conditions, to the biogeochemical cycling of elements. Extremophile research also has implications for origin of life studies and the search for life on other planetary and celestial bodies. In this article, we will review the current state of knowledge for the biospace in which life operates on Earth and will discuss it in a planetary context, highlighting knowledge gaps and areas of opportunity.

Corrigendum: Living at the Extremes: Extremophiles and the Limits of Life in a Planetary Context.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2019.00780.].

Influence of Growth Phase, pH, and Temperature on the Abundance and Composition of Tetraether Lipids in the Thermoacidophile Picrophilus torridus.

The abundance and composition of glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) and glycerol tribiphytanyl glycerol tetraether (GTGT) lipids were determined as a function of growth phase as a proxy for nutrient availability, the pH of growth medium, and incubation temperature in cultures of the thermoacidophile Picrophilus torridus. Regardless of the cultivation condition, the abundance of GDGTs and GTGTs was greater in the polar than core fraction, with a marked decrease in core GDGTs in cultures harvested during log phase growth. These data are consistent with previous suggestions indicating that core GDGTs are re-functionalized during polar lipid synthesis. Under all conditions examined, polar lipids were enriched in a GDGT with 2 cyclopentyl rings (GDGT-2), indicating GDGT-2 is the preferred lipid in this taxon. However, lag or stationary phase grown cells or cells subjected to pH or thermal stress were enriched in GDGTs with 4, 5, or 6 rings and depleted in GDGTs with 1, 2, 3, rings relative to log phase cells grown under optimal conditions. Variation in the composition of polar GDGT lipids in cells harvested during various growth phases tended to be greater than in cells cultivated over a pH range of 0.3-1.1 and a temperature range of 53-63°C. These results suggest that the growth phase, the pH of growth medium, and incubation temperature are all important factors that shape the composition of tetraether lipids in Picrophilus. The similarity in enrichment of GDGTs with more rings in cultures undergoing nutrient, pH, and thermal stress points to GDGT cyclization as a generalized physiological response to stress in this taxon.

Ecological differentiation in planktonic and sediment-associated chemotrophic microbial populations in Yellowstone hot springs.

Chemosynthetic sediment and planktonic community composition and sizes, aqueous geochemistry and sediment mineralogy were determined in 15 non-photosynthetic hot springs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). These data were used to evaluate the hypothesis that differences in the availability of dissolved or mineral substrates in the bulk fluids or sediments within springs coincides with ecologically differentiated microbial communities and their populations. Planktonic and sediment-associated communities exhibited differing ecological characteristics including community sizes, evenness and richness. pH and temperature influenced microbial community composition among springs, but within-spring partitioning of taxa into sediment or planktonic communities was widespread, statistically supported (P < 0.05) and could be best explained by the inferred metabolic strategies of the partitioned taxa. Microaerophilic genera of the Aquificales predominated in many of the planktonic communities. In contrast, taxa capable of mineral-based metabolism such as S(o) oxidation/reduction or Fe-oxide reduction predominated in sediment communities. These results indicate that ecological differentiation within thermal spring habitats is common across a range of spring geochemistry and is influenced by the availability of dissolved nutrients and minerals that can be used in metabolism.