Microbial ecology of hot desert edaphic systems

Abstract

A significant proportion of the Earth's surface is desert or in the process of desertification. The extreme environmental conditions that characterize these areas result in a surface that is essentially barren, with a limited range of higher plants and animals. Microbial communities are probably the dominant drivers of these systems, mediating key ecosystem processes. In this review, we examine the microbial communities of hot desert terrestrial biotopes (including soils, cryptic and refuge niches and plant-root-associated microbes) and the processes that govern their assembly. We also assess the possible effects of global climate change on hot desert microbial communities and the resulting feedback mechanisms. We conclude by discussing current gaps in our understanding of the microbiology of hot deserts and suggest fruitful avenues for future research.

Ecology and biogeochemistry of cyanobacteria in soils, permafrost, aquatic and cryptic polar habitats

“…This is also the case with BSC productivity in the High Arctic (Yoshitake et al 2010). Such changes are likely to result in diminished ecosystem functionality, nutrient cycling, soil stabilization, and water dynamics (Castillo-Monroy et al 2010;Escolar et al 2012;Maestre et al 2013;Bowker et al 2014;B¨udel et al 2014;Makhalanyane et al 2015). Antarctic BSCs have recently been comprehensively reviewed by Bu¨del and Colesie (2014) and by Pointing and Belnap (2012).…”

“…BSCs are good model systems in community, landscape and ecosystem ecology (Bowker et al 2014;Makhalanyane et al 2015). Non-polar regions BSCs are often dominated by a singular filamentous species of the genus Microcoleus: M. vaginatus (Belnap 2003;GarciaPichel et al 2013;B¨udel et al 2014), whereas Antarctic BSCs are unique to the extent that this species has only been identified from Schirmacher Oasis (Pankow et al 1991) and Windmill Islands (Ling and Seppelt 1998) sites.…”

“…Four recent reviews with a focus on the microbial ecology of hypoliths are available (Chan et al 2012;Pointing and Belnap 2012;Makhalanyane et al 2014Makhalanyane et al , 2015. Endoliths…”

Microbial Diversity in Soil, Sand Dune and Rock Substrates of the Thar Monsoon Desert, India

“…Desert soil microbiology has been shown to differ fundamentally from that in other biomes [3], and lithic niches also support unique microbial communities [2,4]. Biodiversity of desert microbial communities has been relatively well studied (see for example recent reviews: [2,5,6]. Soil surfaces may support well-defined biological soil crusts dominated by cyanobacteria, fungi, lichens and mosses, and these have been extensively studied [7].…”

Phylogeny, classification and metagenomic bioprospecting of microbial acetyl xylan esterases

“…For example, the seasonal or intermittent plant productivity of hot desert soils [141] offers an alternative, and largely unexplored, catalogue of thermophilic and/or halophilic and/or alkaliphilic lignocellulose-degrading organisms [132,[142][143][144][145]. Cold-active AcXEs might also become a focus for future biomining projects, given the recent development of strategies for bioconversion of lignocellulosic substrates using psychrophilic CAZymes [146,147].…”