TY - JOUR
T1 - Long-term manipulations of intact microbial mat communities in a greenhouse collaboratory
T2 - Simulating earth's present and past field environments
AU - Bebout, Brad M.
AU - Carpenter, Steven P.
AU - Des Marais, David J.
AU - Discipulo, Mykell
AU - Embaye, Tsegereda
AU - Garcia-Pichel, Ferran
AU - Hoehler, Tori M.
AU - Hogan, Mary
AU - Jahnke, Linda L.
AU - Keller, Richard M.
AU - Miller, Scott R.
AU - Prufert-Bebout, Leslie E.
AU - Raleigh, Chris
AU - Rothrock, Michael
AU - Turk, Kendra
PY - 2002/12/1
Y1 - 2002/12/1
N2 - Photosynthetic microbial mat communities were obtained from marine hypersaline saltern ponds, maintained in a greenhouse facility, and examined for the effects of salinity variations. Because these microbial mats are considered to be useful analogs of ancient marine communities, they offer insights about evolutionary events during the >3 billion year time interval wherein mats co-evolved with Earth's lithosphere and atmosphere. Although photosynthetic mats can be highly dynamic and exhibit extremely high activity, the mats in the present study have been maintained for >1 year with relatively minor changes. The major groups of microorganisms, as assayed using microscopic, genetic, and biomarker methodologies, are essentially the same as those in the original field samples. Field and greenhouse mats were similar with respect to rates of exchange of oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon across the mat-water interface, both during the day and at night. Field and greenhouse mats exhibited similar rates of efflux of methane and hydrogen. Manipulations of salinity in the water overlying the mats produced changes in the community that strongly resemble those observed in the field. A collaboratory testbed and an array of automated features are being developed to support remote scientific experimentation with the assistance of intelligent software agents. This facility will permit teams of investigators the opportunity to explore ancient environmental conditions that are rare or absent today but that might have influenced the early evolution of these photosynthetic ecosystems.
AB - Photosynthetic microbial mat communities were obtained from marine hypersaline saltern ponds, maintained in a greenhouse facility, and examined for the effects of salinity variations. Because these microbial mats are considered to be useful analogs of ancient marine communities, they offer insights about evolutionary events during the >3 billion year time interval wherein mats co-evolved with Earth's lithosphere and atmosphere. Although photosynthetic mats can be highly dynamic and exhibit extremely high activity, the mats in the present study have been maintained for >1 year with relatively minor changes. The major groups of microorganisms, as assayed using microscopic, genetic, and biomarker methodologies, are essentially the same as those in the original field samples. Field and greenhouse mats were similar with respect to rates of exchange of oxygen and dissolved inorganic carbon across the mat-water interface, both during the day and at night. Field and greenhouse mats exhibited similar rates of efflux of methane and hydrogen. Manipulations of salinity in the water overlying the mats produced changes in the community that strongly resemble those observed in the field. A collaboratory testbed and an array of automated features are being developed to support remote scientific experimentation with the assistance of intelligent software agents. This facility will permit teams of investigators the opportunity to explore ancient environmental conditions that are rare or absent today but that might have influenced the early evolution of these photosynthetic ecosystems.
KW - Biogeochemistry
KW - Biomarkers
KW - Microbial mat
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0013275364&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1089/153110702762470491
DO - 10.1089/153110702762470491
M3 - Article
C2 - 12593778
AN - SCOPUS:0013275364
SN - 1531-1074
VL - 2
SP - 383
EP - 402
JO - Astrobiology
JF - Astrobiology
IS - 4
ER -