Harsh environments are typically characterized by some dominant variable limiting diversity, making them interesting systems for studying how species diversity patterns change with abiotic conditions. Several environmental factors with the potential to influence phytoplankton diversity in hypersaline lakes were examined with microcosm experiments using inoculum from the Great Salt Lake, Utah. E...

This study examined the extent of phenotypic plasticity for salinity tolerance and genetic variation in plasticity in the invasive copepod Eurytemora affinis. Euryemora affinis is a species complex inhabiting brackish to hypersaline environments but has invaded freshwater lakes and reservoirs within the past century. Reaction norm experiments were performed on a relatively euryhaline population...

We compared the composition of microbial communities obtained by sequencing 16S rRNA gene amplicons with taxonomy derived from metatranscriptomes from the same samples. Samples were collected from alkaline, hypersaline Mono Lake, California, USA at five depths that captured the major redox zones of the lake during the onset of meromixis. The prokaryotic community was dominated by bacteria from ...

Extremophilic microorganisms such as those that thrive in high-salt and high-alkaline environments are promising candidates for the recovery of useful biomaterials including polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). PHAs ideal alternatives to synthetic plastics because they biodegradable, biocompatible, environmentally friendly. This work was aimed at conducting a bioprospection bacteria isolated from hype...

As one of the largest hypersaline lakes, Lake Tuz, located in middle Turkey, is a key waterbird habitat and classified as Special Environmental Protection Area country. It dynamic lake, highly affected by evaporation due to its wide expanse shallowness (water depth <40 cm), addition being externally exploited salt companies. Monitoring dynamics changes volume, which cause ecological problems...

Abstract The Tibetan Plateau (TP) hosts more than one thousand lakes (>1km 2 ) in its endorheic basins. changing climate recent decades has led to significant modifications the hydrologic system. Most TP experienced dramatically expanding areas, rising water levels, and increasing storage, which inevitably influenced lake salinity. This study provides a regional-scale investigation of salini...

Chitin is an abundant biopolymer whose degradation is mediated primarily by bacterial chitinases. We developed a degenerate PCR primer set to amplify a approximately 900-bp fragment of family 18, group I chitinase genes and used it to retrieve these gene fragments from environmental samples. Clone libraries of presumptive chitinase genes were created for nine water and six sediment samples from...

Significant concentrations of dissolved inorganic arsenic can be found in the waters of a number of lakes located in the western USA and in other water bodies around the world. These lakes are often situated in arid, volcanic terrain. The highest concentrations of arsenic occur in hypersaline, closed basin soda lakes and their remnant brines. Although arsenic is a well-known toxicant to eukaryo...

The diurnal variation in the microgradients of O(2), H(2)S, and Eh were studied in the benthic cyanobacterial mats of a hypersaline desert lake (Solar Lake, Sinai). The results were related to light intensity, light penetration into the mat, temperature, pH, NH(4), photosynthetic activity, pigments, and the zonation of the microbial community. Extreme diurnal variation was found, with an O(2) p...

Deep-sea hypersaline anoxic basins and other hypersaline environments contain abundant and diverse microbial life that has adapted to these extreme conditions. The bacterial Candidate Division KB1 represents one of several uncultured groups that have been consistently observed in hypersaline microbial diversity studies. Here we report the phylogeography of KB1, its phylogenetic relationships to...