Life without water: how do bacteria generate biomass in desert ecosystems?
Sean Bay A , Belinda Ferrari B and Chris Greening C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Geometric Biology, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia. Tel: +61 4 1355 5721, Email: sean.bay@monash.edu
B School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Biosciences South E26, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9385 2032, Email: b.ferrari@unsw.edu.au
C School of Biological Sciences, Centre for Geometric Biology, Monash University, 25 Rainforest Walk, Clayton, Vic. 3800, Australia. Tel: +61 3 9905 1692, Email: chris.greening@monash.edu
Microbiology Australia 39(1) 28-32 https://doi.org/10.1071/MA18008
Published: 21 February 2018
Abstract
Many of the world's most arid deserts harbour surprisingly diverse communities of heterotrophic bacteria. These organisms persist in surface soils under extreme climatic conditions, despite lacking obvious energy inputs from phototrophic primary producers. A longstanding conundrum has been how these communities sustain enough energy to maintain their diversity and biomass. We recently helped to resolve this conundrum by demonstrating that some desert communities are structured by a minimalistic mode of chemosynthetic primary production, where atmospheric trace gases, not sunlight, serve as the main energy sources. These findings are supported by pure culture studies that suggest atmospheric trace gases are dependable energy sources for the long-term survival of dormant soil bacteria. We predict that atmospheric trace gases may be a major energy source for desert ecosystems worldwide.
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