The Cuatro Ciénegas Basin in Coahuila, Mexico: an astrobiological Precambrian Park.
نویسندگان
چکیده
The Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB) is a rare oasis in the Chihuahuan Desert in the state of Coahuila, Mexico. It has a biological endemism similar to that of the Galapagos Islands, and its spring-fed ecosystems have very low nutrient content (nitrogen or phosphorous) and are dominated by diverse microbialites. Thus, it has proven to be a distinctive opportunity for the field of astrobiology, as the CCB can be seen as a proxy for an earlier time in Earth's history, in particular the late Precambrian, the biological frontier when prokaryotic life yielded at least partial dominance to eukaryotes and multicellular life. It is a kind of ecological time machine that provides abundant opportunities for collaborative investigations by geochemists, geologists, ecologists, and population biologists in the study of the evolutionary processes that structured Earth-based life, especially in the microbial realm. The CCB is an object of investigation for the identification of biosignatures of past and present biota that can be used in our search for extraterrestrial life. In this review, we summarize CCB research efforts that began with microbial ecology and population biology projects and have since been expanded into broader efforts that involve biogeochemistry, comparative genomics, and assessments of biosignatures. We also propose that, in the future, the CCB is sanctioned as a "Precambrian Park" for astrobiology.
منابع مشابه
New records of bee flies (Diptera, Bombyliidae) from Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, Mexico
Forty one new records of species of Bombyliidae are reported for Coahuila in northeastern Mexico. Nine of these species are reported for the first time for the country. The specimens were collected in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin and Sierra La Madera mountains during 2007-2013. The modified distributions of species are discussed. The gaps in the distribution of many species suggest an undersamplin...
متن کاملFirst draft genome sequence of a strain from the genus Citricoccus.
Bacteria of the genus Citricoccus have been isolated from ecological niches characterized by diverse abiotic stress conditions. Here we report the first genome draft of a strain of the genus Citricoccus isolated from the extremely oligotrophic Churince system in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (CCB) in Coahuila, Mexico.
متن کاملBacillus coahuilensis sp. nov., a moderately halophilic species from a desiccation lagoon in the Cuatro Ciénegas Valley in Coahuila, Mexico.
A moderately halophilic, Gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium, strain m4-4T, was isolated from a Chihuahuan desert lagoon in Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, Mexico. Strain m4-4T was found to grow optimally at 30-37 degrees C, pH 7.0-8.0 and 5 % NaCl and to tolerate from 0.5 % to 10 % NaCl. It was shown to be aerobic. The genomic DNA G+C content was about 37 mol%. Strain m4-4T exhibited minimal or ...
متن کاملShell Variation of Springsnail Populations in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin, Mexico: Preliminary Analysis of Limnocrene Fauna
Geographic variation in shell morphometry is analyzed for three locally endemic springsnail (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae) species occurring sympatrically in nine limnocrenes of the Cuatro Cienegas Basin, Coahuila, Mexico. Despite some correlation of size-related variables across species, groupings of populations based on multivariate analyses were not very similar among species, nor were they stron...
متن کاملHabitat Segregation among Trophic Morphs of the Cuatro Ciénegas Cichlid (Herichthys minckleyi) Segregación de hábitat entre formas tróficas de la mojarra de Cuatro Ciénegas (Herichthys minckleyi)
Herichthys minckleyi is an endangered, trophically polymorphic cichlid endemic to the Cuatro Ciénegas basin of Coahuila, Mexico. A molariform morph has stout pharyngeal teeth whereas a papilliform morph has numerous fine pharyngeal teeth. Individuals with intermediate pharyngeal dentition also exist, as does yet another morph, called piscivore. Previous studies indicated that morphs utilize dif...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Astrobiology
دوره 12 7 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2012