Reproductive Biology of Grusonia bradtiana (Cactaceae): A Dominant Species and Endemic Clonal Cactus from Cuatro Ciénegas Basin and Contiguous Areas in the Chihuahuan Desert

2020 ◽  
pp. 75-94
Author(s):  
Lucía Plasencia-López ◽  
Mariana Rojas-Aréchiga ◽  
María C. Mandujano
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Biology ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

scholarly journals The Geographic Structure of Viruses in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin, a Unique Oasis in Northern Mexico, Reveals a Highly Diverse Population on a Small Geographic Scale

2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Taboada ◽  
P. Isa ◽  
A. L. Gutiérrez-Escolano ◽  
R. M. del Ángel ◽  
J. E. Ludert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Phylogenetic Trees ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Geographic Scale ◽  
Geographic Structure ◽  
Virus Diversity ◽  
Intestinal Contents ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

ABSTRACT The Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB) is located in the Chihuahuan desert in the Mexican state of Coahuila; it has been characterized as a site with high biological diversity despite its extreme oligotrophic conditions. It has the greatest number of endemic species in North America, containing abundant living microbialites (including stromatolites and microbial mats) and diverse microbial communities. With the hypothesis that this high biodiversity and the geographic structure should be reflected in the virome, the viral communities in 11 different locations of three drainage systems, Churince, La Becerra, and Pozas Rojas, and in the intestinal contents of 3 different fish species, were analyzed for both eukaryotic and prokaryotic RNA and DNA viruses using next-generation sequencing methods. Double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) virus families were the most abundant (72.5% of reads), followed by single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) viruses (2.9%) and ssRNA and dsRNA virus families (0.5%). Thirteen families had dsDNA genomes, five had ssDNA, three had dsRNA, and 16 had ssRNA. A highly diverse viral community was found, with an ample range of hosts and a strong geographical structure, with very even distributions and signals of endemicity in the phylogenetic trees from several different virus families. The majority of viruses found were bacteriophages but eukaryotic viruses were also frequent, and the large diversity of viruses related to algae were a surprise, since algae are not evident in the previously analyzed aquatic systems of this ecosystem. Animal viruses were also frequently found, showing the large diversity of aquatic animals in this oasis, where plants, protozoa, and archaea are rare. IMPORTANCE In this study, we tested whether the high biodiversity and geographic structure of CCB is reflected in its virome. CCB is an extraordinarily biodiverse oasis in the Chihuahuan desert, where a previous virome study suggested that viruses had followed the marine ancestry of the marine bacteria and, as a result of their long isolation, became endemic to the site. In this study, which includes a larger sequencing coverage and water samples from other sites within the valley, we confirmed the high virus biodiversity and uniqueness as well as the strong biogeographical diversification of the CCB. In addition, we also analyzed fish intestinal contents, finding that each fish species eats different prey and, as a result, presents different viral compositions even if they coexist in the same pond. These facts highlight the high and novel virus diversity of CCB and its “lost world” status.

scholarly journals Diversity across Seasons of CulturablePseudomonasfrom a Desiccation Lagoon in Cuatro Cienegas, Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandra Rodríguez-Verdugo ◽  
Valeria Souza ◽  
Luis E. Eguiarte ◽  
Ana E. Escalante
Keyword(s):  
16S Rdna ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Water System ◽  
Rdna Sequences ◽  
Rdna Sequencing ◽  
Biodiversity Inventories ◽  
Different Temperatures ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

Cuatro Cienegas basin (CCB) is a biodiversity reservoir within the Chihuahuan desert that includes several water systems subject to marked seasonality. While several studies have focused on biodiversity inventories, this is the first study that describes seasonal changes in diversity within the basin. We sampledPseudomonaspopulations from a seasonally variable water system at four different sampling dates (August 2003, January 2004, January 2005, and August 2005). A total of 70Pseudomonasisolates across seasons were obtained, genotyped by fingerprinting (BOX-PCR), and taxonomically characterized by 16S rDNA sequencing. We found 35 unique genotypes, and two numerically dominant lineages (16S rDNA sequences) that made up 64% of the sample:P. cuatrocienegasensisandP. otitidis. We did not recover genotypes across seasons, but lineages reoccurred across seasons;P. cuatrocienegasensiswas isolated exclusively in winter, whileP. otitidiswas only recovered in summer. We statistically show that taxonomic identity of isolates is not independent of the sampling season, and that winter and summer populations are different. In addition to the genetic description of populations, we show exploratory measures of growth rates at different temperatures, suggesting physiological differences between populations. Altogether, the results indicate seasonal changes in diversity of free-living aquaticPseudomonaspopulations from CCB.

scholarly journals Modern microbial mats from the Chihuahuan Desert provide insights into ecological stability throughout Earth's history

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Madrigal-Trejo ◽  
Jazmín Sánchez-Pérez ◽  
Laura Espinosa-Asuar ◽  
Valeria Souza
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Extreme Environments ◽  
Taxonomic Composition ◽  
Ecological Stability ◽  
The Face ◽  
Microbial System ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

Microbial mats are complex ecological assemblages that are found in the Precambrian fossil record and in extant extreme environments. Hence, these structures are regarded as highly stable ecosystems. In this work, we assess the ecological stability in a modern, fluctuating, hypersaline pond from the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin. From the 2016 to 2019 metagenomic sampling of this site, we found that this microbial site is sensitive to disturbances, which leads to high taxonomic replacement. Additionally, the mats have shown to be functionally stable throughout time, and could be differentiated between dry and rainy seasonal states. We speculate that this microbial system could represent a modern analog of ancient, hypersaline coastal microbial mats, where functions were preserved over time, whereas taxonomic composition was subject to diversification in the face of local and planetary perturbations.

scholarly journals Diversity of Archaea Domain in Cuatro Cienegas Basin: Archaean Domes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nahui Olin Medina-Chávez ◽  
Mariette Viladomat-Jasso ◽  
Gabriela Olmedo-Álvarez ◽  
Luis E Eguiarte ◽  
Valeria Souza ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Chihuahuan Desert ◽  
Unusual Site ◽  
Community Assemblage ◽  
Rare Biosphere ◽  
Low Phosphorus ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Metagenome Sequencing ◽  
Study Sites ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin

AbstractHerein we describe the Archaea diversity in a shallow pond in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB), Northeast Mexico, with fluctuating hypersaline conditions containing elastic microbial mats that can form small domes where their anoxic inside reminds us of the characteristics of the Archaean Eon, rich in methane and sulfur gases; thus, we named this site the Archaean Domes (AD). These domes only form after heavy rains that are rare in the Chihuahuan desert. CCB is a unique oasis with hundreds of ponds, containing endemic species of animals, plants and highly diverse and unique microbial communities, despite its very biased stoichiometry, due mostly to extreme low phosphorus content (soils, water columns and sediments). This extreme oligotrophy has favored survival of ancestral microorganisms. Whole metagenome sequencing approach was performed for this unusual site in three different seasons to assess the extent of the Archaea biodiversity, with a focus on extremophiles, since members of the Archaea had been underrepresented in different study sites within the oasis. We found a highly diverse Archaea community compassing ∼5% of the metagenomes. The archaeal portion in all three metagenomes maintained its abundance and most of the strains showed to form a resilient core during three seasonal samplings (2016-2017), despite environmental fluctuations. However, relative abundances of all 230 archaeal OTUs (defined using a 97% cutoff) were low enough (<0.1%) to be considered part of the rare biosphere. AD finding and their description within CCB confirms that this particular pond is the most diverse for Archaea that we are aware of and opens new paths for understanding the forces that once drove and keep shaping microbial community assemblage.

scholarly journals Comparative Metagenomics of Two Microbial Mats at Cuatro Ciénegas Basin II: Community Structure and Composition in Oligotrophic Environments

Astrobiology ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 659-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Germán Bonilla-Rosso ◽  
Mariana Peimbert ◽  
Luis David Alcaraz ◽  
Ismael Hernández ◽  
Luis E. Eguiarte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Microbial Mats ◽  
Comparative Metagenomics ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas ◽  
Cuatro Ciénegas Basin
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