Microbial Mats: Modern and Ancient Microorganisms in Stratified Systems

ISBN-13: 9789048137985 / Angielski / Twarda / 2010 / 606 str.

Joseph Seckbach; Aharon Oren

Opis

This book provides information about microbial mats, from early fossils to modern mats located in marine and terrestrial environments. Microbial mats - layered biofilms containing different types of cells - are most complex systems in which representatives of various groups of organisms are found together. Among them are cyanobacteria and eukaryotic phototrophs, aerobic heterotrophic and chemoautotrophic bacteria, protozoa, anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, and other types of microorganisms. These mats are perfect models for biogeochemical processes, such as the cycles of chemical elements, in which a variety of microorganisms cooperate and interact in complex ways. They are often found under extreme conditions and their study contributes to our understanding of extremophilic life. Moreover, microbial mats are models for Precambrian stromatolites; the study of modern microbial mats may provide information on the processes that may have occurred on Earth when prokaryotic life began to spread.

Recenzje

From the reviews:

"This volume encompasses many aspects of the microbial mats being a valuable source of information and a true working instrument for scientists interested in microbial mats, either beginners or already known in the field. ... attract new people for the study of different aspects of microbial mats students or scientists from other domains. ... the reader finds an excellent resume of the main ideas and topics of this comprehensive and authoritative book on microbial mats, which should be available in every decent scientific library." (Ioan I. Ardelean, Romanian Biochemical Journal, Vol. 48 (1), 2011)

Spis treści

Introduction: Microbial Mats Matter as Marvelous Manifestations of Life, J.T. Staley Preface, J. Seckbach and A. Oren List of Authors and their Addresses PART 1: THE NATURE OF MICROBIAL MATS What are microbial mats? G. Gerdes Paper from Outer Space – On ‘Meteorpapier’ and Microbial Mats, A.Oren PART 2: MICROBIAL MATS IN THE GEOLOGICAL RECORD Microbial Mats on the Early Earth: The Archean Rock Record, M.M. Walsh Gunflint Chert Microbiota Revisited - Neither Stromatolites, nor Cyanobacteria, W.E. Krumbein Paleoenvironmental Context of Microbial Mat-Related Structures in Siliciclastic Rocks - Examples from the Proterozoic of India and South Africa, P.G. Eriksson et al Microbially Related Structures in Siliciclastic Sediment Resembling Ediacaran Fossils: Examples from India, Ancient and Modern, S.Banerjee et al Osmotrophic Biofilms: From Modern to Ancient, M.D. Brasier et al Microbial Mats as a Source of Biosignatures, E. Chacon Molecular Investigations and Experimental Manipulations of Microbial Mats: A View to Paleo-Microbial Ecosystems, S.J. Green and L.L. Jahnke Architecture of Archaeal-Dominated Microbial Mats from Cold Seeps in the Black Sea (Dnjepr Canyon, Lower Crimean Shelf), J. Reitner PART 3: MARINE, FRESHWATER, AND SOIL BIOFILMS Biodynamics of Modern Marine Stromatolites, D.M. Paterson et al Entophysalis Mats as Environmental Regulators, S. Golubic and R.M.M. Abed Diversity and Role of Cyanobacteria and Aerobic Heterotrophic Microorganisms in Carbon Cycling in Arid Cyanobacterial Mats,R.M.M. Abed et al Ooid Accreting Diatom Communities from the Modern Marine Stromatolites at Highborne Cay, Bahamas, J. Franks et al Exopolymers (Extracellular Polymeric Substances) in Diatom - Dominated Marine Sediment Biofilms, G.J.C. Underwood Microbial Mats from Wind Flats of the Southern Baltic Sea, K. Heyl et al Diazotrophic Microbial Mats, I. Severin and L.J. Stal Architectures of Biocomplexity: Lichen-Dominated Soil Crusts and Mats, M. Grube et al Iron and Bacterial Biofilm Development, O. Avidan et al PART 4 : MICROBIAL MATS IN EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS Mats of Filamentous and Unicellular Cyanobacteria in Hypersaline Environments, A. Oren Marine Hypersaline Microcoleus-Dominated Cyanobacterial Mats in the Saltern at Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, Mexico. A System-Level Perspective, D.J. Des Marais Environmental Dynamics, Community Structure and Function in a Hypersaline Microbial Mat, H.W. Paerl and A.C. Yanarell Biogeochemistry of Carbon Cycling in Hypersaline Mats: Linking the Present to the Past through Biosignatures, P.T. Visscher et al Phototrophic Biofilms from Rio Tinto, an Extreme Acidic Environment, the Prokaryotic Component, A. Aguilera et al Fluvial Bedform Generation by Biofilm Activity in the Berrocal Segment of Río Tinto. Acidic Biofilms and Sedimentation, D.C. Fernández-Remolar et al Cyanobacterial Mats of the Meltwater Ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf (Antarctica), A.D. Jungblut and B.A. Neilan Diversity and Ecology of Cyanobacterial Microflora of Antarctic Seepage Habitats. Comparison of King George Island, Shetland Islands, and