Prokaryotic and viral community of the sulfate-rich crust from Peñahueca ephemeral lake, an astrobiology analogue.

Peñahueca is an athalassohaline hypersaline inland ephemeral lake originated under semiarid conditions in the central Iberian Peninsula (Spain). Its chemical composition makes it extreme for microbial life as well as a terrestrial analogue of other planetary environments. To investigate the persistence of microbial life associated with sulfate-rich crusts, we applied cultivation-independent methods (optical and electron microscopy, 16S rRNA gene profiling and metagenomics) to describe the prokaryotic community and its associated viruses.

Microbial Mg-rich Carbonates in an Extreme Alkaline Lake (Las Eras, Central Spain).

This paper provides strong evidence for the contribution of the phylum Firmicutes in mediating the primary precipitation of Mg-rich carbonates (hydromagnesite, dolomite, magnesite, and nesquehonite) in recent microbialites from a highly alkaline and ephemeral inland lake (Las Eras, Central Spain). The carbonate mineral precipitation occurs sequentially as the microbial mats decay. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provided solid proof that hydromagnesite nucleation is initiated on the exopolymeric substances (EPS) and the microbial cells associated to the microbial mat degradation areas.

Clinical, Dermoscopic and Histologic Features of Recurrent Cutaneous Eosinophilic Vasculitis Cases.

Primary recurrent cutaneous eosinophilic vasculitis is a rare condition characterized by pruritic, erythematous, purpuric plaques associated to edema. We compared and analyze the clinical, dermoscopic and histological features of the disease in 4 patients from our hospital and 13 patients published in the literature. Seventeen patients were included, with a median age of 56yo, a median duration of disease of 6 months.