Abstract
Microbial mats are compacted, surface-associated microbial ecosystems reminiscent of the first living communities on early Earth. While often considered predominantly prokaryotic, recent findings show that both fungi and viruses are ubiquitous in microbial mats, albeit their functional roles remain unknown. Fungal research has mostly focused on terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems where fungi are known as important recyclers of organic matter, whereas viruses are exceptionally abundant and important in aquatic ecosystems. Here, viruses have shown to affect organic matter cycling and the diversity of microbial communities by facilitating horizontal gene transfer and cell lysis. We hypothesise fungi and viruses to have similar roles in microbial mats. Based on the analysis of previous research in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, we outline novel hypotheses proposing strong impacts of fungi and viruses on element cycling, food web structure and function in microbial mats, and outline experimental approaches for studies needed to understand these interactions.
Highlights
Microbial mats encompass microbes involved in all metabolic pathways existent onEarth and have remained surprisingly stable for over 3 billion years (Krumbein et al 2003)
We suggest that fungi could have three main roles in microbial mats: (i) remineralise refractory organic matter and nutrients, facilitating further breakdown by microbes, (ii) trap organic matter and nutrients as a result of predation/attack of microbes, and (iii) impact microbial succession and diversity
Contrary to pelagic or terrestrial ecosystems where the food web spreads from simple organic matter to higher vertebrates, in most microbial mats, the food web is entirely microbial
Summary
Cátia Carreira1*, Christian Lønborg, Michael Kühl, Ana I. Microfluidics – Refers to the controlled manipulation of fluids at small scales allowing an accurate control of e.g. fluid flow, chemical gradients, and surface chemistry (Son et al, 2015) In microbial ecology it has been used extensively in the study of microbial motility and chemotaxis. Nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS) – Refers to a technique that separates ions of different mass to charge ratio which are analysed in a mass spectrometer This technique can detect one or more elements or isotopes simultaneously at a high spatial resolution (down to submicron-scale), and with high sensitivity allowing the imaging of metabolic activity within single cells (Pett-Ridge & Weber, 2012). FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 2020, Vol 96 Viral shuttle – Refers to when viral lysis enables the development of aggregates (e.g. marine snow) removing matter from the photic zone but increasing the carbon flux in the deep sea (Weinbauer, 2004)
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