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A micrometer‐scale snapshot on phototroph spatial distributions: mass spectrometry imaging of microbial mats in Octopus Spring, Yellowstone National Park
Name
gbi.12411.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
4.03 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
0d4cb232f7e958d03c07f1d6361ee210
Author(s)
Wörmer, Lars
Gajendra, Niroshan
Schubotz, Florence
Matys, Emily D
Evans, Thomas W
Summons, Roger E
Hinrichs, Kai-Uwe
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Geobiology
Publisher
Wiley
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2020 The Authors. Geobiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd Microbial mats from alkaline hot springs in the Yellowstone National Park are ideal natural laboratories to study photosynthetic life under extreme conditions, as well as the nuanced interactions of oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs. They represent distinctive examples of chlorophototroph (i.e., chlorophyll or bacteriochlorophyll-based phototroph) diversity, and several novel phototrophs have been first described in these systems, all confined in space, coexisting and competing for niches defined by parameters such as light, oxygen, or temperature. In a novel approach, we employed mass spectrometry imaging of chloropigments, quinones, and intact polar lipids (IPLs) to describe the spatial distribution of different groups of chlorophototrophs along the ~ 1 cm thick microbial mat at 75 µm resolution and in the top ~ 1.5 mm green part of the mat at 25 µm resolution. We observed a fine-tuned sequence of oxygenic and anoxygenic chlorophototrophs with distinctive biomarker signatures populating the microbial mat. The transition of oxic to anoxic conditions is characterized by an accumulation of biomarkers indicative of anoxygenic phototrophy. It is also identified as a clear boundary for different species and ecotypes, which adjust their biomarker inventory, particularly the interplay of quinones and chloropigments, to prevailing conditions. Colocalization of the different biomarker groups led to the identification of characteristic IPL signatures and indicates that glycosidic diether glycerolipids are diagnostic for anoxygenic phototrophs in this mat system. The zoom-in into the upper green part further reveals how oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs share this microenvironment and informs on subtle, microscale adjustments in lipid composition of Synechococcus spp.
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
10.1111/GBI.12411
