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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2004, p. 569-580, Vol. 70, No. 1
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.1.569-580.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Microstructural Characterization of Cyanobacterial Mats from the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica

Asunción de los Ríos,1* Carmen Ascaso,1 Jacek Wierzchos,2 Eduardo Fernández-Valiente,3 and Antonio Quesada3

Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, CSIC, 28006 Madrid,1 Servei de Microscopía Electrónica, Universitat de Lleida, 25198 Lleida,2 Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain3

Received 30 June 2003/ Accepted 25 September 2003

The three-dimensional structures of two types of cyanobacterium-dominated microbial mats from meltwater ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf were as determined by using a broad suite of complementary techniques, including optical and fluorescence microscopy, confocal scanning laser microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with back-scattered electron-imaging mode, low-temperature scanning electron microscopy, and microanalyitical X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy. By using a combination of the different in situ microscopic techniques, the Antarctic microbial mats were found to be structures with vertical stratification of groups of cyanobacteria and mineral sediments, high contents of extracellular polymeric substances, and large void spaces occupied by water. In cyanobacterium-rich layers, heterocystous nostocalean and nonheterocystous oscillatorialean taxa were the most abundant taxa and appeared to be intermixed with fine-size deposits of epicellular silica and calcium carbonate. Most of the cyanobacterial filaments had similar orientations in zones without sediment particles, but thin filaments were tangled among thicker filaments. The combination of the microscopic techniques used showed the relative positions of biological and mineral entities within the microbial mats and enabled some speculation about their interactions.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Centro de Ciencias Medioambientales, C/ Serrano 115 duplicado, 28006 Madrid, Spain. Phone: 34-917452500. Fax: 34-915640800. E-mail: arios{at}ccma.csic.es.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, January 2004, p. 569-580, Vol. 70, No. 1
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.1.569-580.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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