Today, the biodiversity of endolithic microbial colonisations are only partly understood. In this study, we used a combination of molecular community metabarcoding using the 16S rRNA gene, light microscopy, CT-scan analysis, and Raman spectroscopy to describe gypsum endolithic communities in 2 sites-southern Poland and northern Israel. The obtained results have shown that despite different geographical areas, climatic conditions, and also physical features of colonized gypsum outcrops, both of these sites have remarkably similar microbial and pigment compositions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn this study, we used microscopic, spectroscopic, and molecular analysis to characterize endolithic colonization in gypsum (selenites and white crystalline gypsum) from several sites in Sicily. Our results showed that the dominant microorganisms in these environments are cyanobacteria, including: sp., , , and sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMicrobial colonisations of gypsum from Eastern Poland (Badenian, Middle Miocene age) were investigated by Raman microspectrometry with a rarely used excitation 445 nm excitation. Zones of microbial colonisation in selenitic gypsum endolithic outcrops comprise algae and cyanobacteria, which commonly contain the photosynthetic and protective pigments carotenoids, scytonemin and gloeocapsin. Diagnostic bands differing from those of scytonemin have been identified in black colonies in gypsum outcrops at Chotel Czierwony (Poland).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectrochim Acta A Mol Biomol Spectrosc
April 2019
We tested the potential of Raman microspectroscopy to determine carotenoid pigments - both primary (lutein, beta-carotene) and secondary (astaxanthin) carotenoids - in the different species and life-cycle stages of snow algae from the order Chlamydomonadales (Chlorophyta). We compared the performance of Raman spectrometry to a reference method of biological pigment analysis, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The three main carotenoid Raman bands of the astaxanthin-rich red cysts were located at 1520, 1156 and 1006 cm.
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