陕南寒武纪早期仙女洞组生物礁灰岩微相序列

扬子地台北缘在寒武纪筇竹寺期—沧浪铺期出现海退,该时期的仙女洞组属浅海碳酸盐岩与碎屑岩的混合沉积单元,分布于陕西南部及四川北部。陕南南郑福成和碑坝剖面组成完整仙女洞组序列,其中包含8期生物礁相单元。单层礁体为米级厚度,形态特征显示丘状隆起或平缓延伸。水体的清澈度、深度以及水动力强度变化对各期礁相单元生长的控制力度因时而异,陆源碎屑数次侵入导致海水浑浊度增高,点断了礁体生长。礁灰岩微相类型包括钙质微生物粘结岩、古杯-钙质微生物绑结岩、古杯漂砾-砾屑灰岩、粒泥状-泥粒状灰岩以及泥状灰岩。早期礁灰岩中钙质微生物粘结岩含量丰富,之后古杯绑结岩在礁灰岩构建中具有丰度增长的趋势,且上部礁灰岩层位中不规则古杯占主要地位。仙女洞组沉积晚期海水变浅和水动力条件增强,常见漂砾灰岩和砾屑灰岩。     

海洋养殖环境微生物多样性及其作用

微生物是海洋养殖环境和海洋牧场生态系统中的关键环境因素之一，在牧场环境的物质循环、水质保障、饵料供应、水产健康等方面起重要作用，是营造海洋牧场环境且影响其可持续发展的重要因素。主要围绕海洋养殖环境中的病原微生物以及有益微生物两方面，概述了我国海洋养殖环境常见的病原性细菌、真菌、病毒以及相应的病害防治措施等，并介绍了海洋养殖环境中能够改善海水养殖环境，包括降低水体氨氮含量、降解水体硫化物、抑制赤潮藻类的生长等以及直接促进海水养殖生物生长的有益功能微生物类群。目前，我国关于海洋牧场环境营造过程中微生物的研究仍很少，而与海洋牧场环境有一定相似性的海水养殖环境中微生物的研究较为成熟，其对海洋牧场环境健康营造有很好的启示。海洋水产养殖环境中微生物的新功能菌种的发现、作用机制以及功能菌应用等方面的深入研究将会对我国大力推进海洋牧场建设起到重要的作用。     

不同煤阶生物成因煤层气微生物群落的功能及多样性研究进展

生物成因煤层气是煤层气形成的主要途径之一,在各种煤阶的煤层气田中均发现有生物成因煤层气。高通量测序技术、宏基因组学等高新技术的应用逐步揭示了生物成因煤层气微生物群落的组成及多样性,为揭示煤层气资源的微生物生成机理提供了理论依据。本文综述了近年来国内外针对不同煤阶条件下微生物群落结构及多样性方面的研究进展,总结了煤层气生物成因过程中主要微生物的功能及产气途径,并探讨了生物成因煤层气领域的研究前景。     

叠层石衰减事件

“叠层石”这一术语是1908年Kalkowsky首先定义的,用来描述具有多少近似平面状、生物成因细纹层构造的灰岩体。叠层石这个词的使用和定义经历了逐渐的变化,现在大家一致认为叠层石是蓝细菌等微生物群体形成的一种层状的生物沉积构造,如下图所示。近代叠层石主要形成于清水环境、海边缘、潮间带的浅水环境。叠层石并不一定是碳酸盐岩,也可以是硅质岩、蒸发岩或磷酸盐。许多金属矿沉积都与叠层石有密切联系,尤其是叠层石礁。在叠层石形成过程中,微生物对于各种自生矿物的沉淀起到了重要作用,包括碳酸盐、磷酸盐、氧化物、硫化物和硒酸盐。微…     

中国南方二叠纪礁类型及成礁的控制因素

我国南方的二叠纪礁主要分布在黔、桂、川东、湘鄂西以及中下扬子地区，有两次大的成礁期，即茅口期和长兴期，且以长兴期礁发育好、分布普遍。根据礁的成因、组构及礁岩类型，将南方二叠纪礁分成４类：生物礁，生物丘，灰泥丘和地层礁。各类礁均具有其自身独有的特征，同时它们的形成、演化和消亡，明显地受到古构造（尤其是古断裂）、古地理、古环境和海水进退、海平面升降的严格控制。     

微生物被膜(Biofilm)的社会学特征

微生物被膜(biofilm)是一类具有高复杂性和高自组织特性的生物结构,由多种微生物(细菌、古菌、藻类、微小真核生物)和生物基质(多糖、蛋白、脂肪酸等)组成,具有特定的组织结构和生态学功能,在微生物定殖、生态位构建和环境适应性上具有重要作用.许多微生物行为,如病原感染、毒素产生、耐药能力、生物污损以及管网堵塞等都与微生物被膜的存在有关.这些事件的形成充斥着多样化的微生物行为,包括信号交流,合作/竞争、劳动分工以及逆境环境下的"菌工智能"等.这些特征越来越多地显示出Biofilm的社会学特性,而这一特性也提供了深入认识Biofilm的新视角.据此,以Biofilm的3D结构为基础,以膜内的通讯语言、协作方式,以及智能化的抗逆表现(环境应激、协同进化)为重点来阐述它的社会学特征,以期更好地认识Biofilm的属性,加深对微生物社会学的认识.     

湖泊沉积植物古DNA的现代过程

对植被历史变化过程的研究是理解现代植被组成、分布及其对全球变化响应的基础。近年来, 随着分子古生态学的发展, 分析沉积介质中的陆生植物古DNA信号, 以研究植被及植物多样性演变的历史过程正在成为研究热点, 湖泊沉积植物古DNA已成为古植被和古生态学研究的成熟代用指标。然而与第四纪孢粉分析相比较, 湖泊沉积植物古DNA的现代过程依然不明确, 成为其进一步发展和应用的限制因素。基于此, 该文综述了湖泊沉积植物古DNA技术研究进展, 尝试阐明湖泊沉积植物古DNA的现代过程, 包括植物DNA的来源、沉积和保存过程及其影响因素, 以及植物DNA与现代植被的关系等。已有研究表明, 湖泊沉积植物古DNA主要来自湖泊周边或流域范围, 其丰度和组成除受到源植物生物量的影响外, 同样受到沉积物的搬运和沉积过程中DNA降解作用、土壤以及沉积物中颗粒的吸附过程和稀释作用等因素的影响。湖泊沉积物中植物DNA的保存则主要受到微生物活动、湖水的化学性质(电导率和pH值)、湖泊深度、沉积物组成等一系列生物与非生物因素的共同影响。湖泊沉积植物古DNA可以揭示其沉积时代的植物群落类型以及气候环境信息, 但目前并不能够用来定量重建古植被变化过程。鉴于湖泊沉积植物古DNA现代过程的复杂性, 对研究结果的解释要格外小心。与孢粉分析相比, 湖泊沉积植物古DNA研究仍处于起步阶段, 但随着分子生物技术的进步、实验设计的优化、物种条形码的扩充及参考数据库的完善等, 以DNA宏条形码和宏基因组学为主要技术手段的植物古DNA技术, 必将推动我国植物古生态研究的进一步发展。     

南极冰下水生态系统微生物与生源元素循环研究进展

南极大陆冰盖下存在液态水,形成了由冰下湖、冰下河/溪、冰封湖和冰架下水体等组成的冰下水生态系统,具有低温、黑暗和寡营养等极端的环境条件特征。微生物主导了南极冰下水生态系统,其具有丰富多样的种群构成、功能形式和独特的适应机制,在生源元素生物地球化学循环过程中起了重要作用。研究南极冰下微生物群落的生态特征及其参与的生源元素地球化学循环过程,可为揭示地球生命演化和探索外星生命提供指示,具有重要的科学意义。本文综述了南极冰下水生态系统的极端环境条件、冰下微生物的多样性、冰下微生物参与的生物地球化学循环以及冰下微生物的适极机理,最后基于研究现状展望了南极冰下微生物的未来研究方向。     

渤海青东凹陷垦利构造新生代微体古生物群特征及古环境分析

本研究先后共选取采自渤海湾盆地垦利构造带的221块样品进行系统古生物分析,其中孢粉藻类样品130块(岩屑),介形类、轮藻、腹足类样品90块(岩屑),钙质超微样品1块,揭示了不同时期沉积序列的生物演化规律及其环境指示意义.深入剖析这些生储油层位的微体古生物群组合,进而揭示了区域古环境特征,对于开展区域地层对比,指导油气勘探和生烃潜力评价等都具有重要的意义.     

应用古DNA技术探究发酵微生物的适应、演化和驯化历史

发酵生产是人类最原始的对微生物的应用和实践,在人类历史上具有重要意义。然而,由于分子证据的匮乏,人类发酵生产的演变历程及相关发酵微生物的演化和驯化历史尚不清楚。本文以目前最常见的两类发酵食品——酒及发酵乳品为例介绍了发酵食品考古和相关发酵微生物的演化和驯化研究,以及古微生物学和发酵古微生物的研究现状,并讨论了将微生物古DNA技术应用于古代发酵微生物研究的可行性和难点,展示了古DNA捕获技术在本领域的应用潜力,为发酵微生物演化研究提供了新的思路和方法。     

Microatoll microbialites of Lake Clifton,Western Australia: Morphological analogues ofCryptozoön proliferum Hall,the first formally-named stromatolite

Summary The Linnaean nameCryptozo?n proliferum Hall was proposed in 1883 for a previously undescribed life-form preserved in spectacular exposures of Cambrian limestones in New York State, USA. It is now recognised that these are exposures of stromatolitic microbialites, laminated organosedimentary structures formed from interaction between a benthic microbial community (BMC) and the environment. Microbialites are neither fossil organisms nor trace fossils. These complex structures are the products of dissipative, self-organising systems involving a BMC, the external environment and the accreting microbialite. Functionally analogous BMCs of different species compositions may build similar structures in similar environments in quite separate periods. The type exposures ofCryptozo?n proliferum show objects composed of complex, concentric rings, up to a metre in diameter, that have grown laterally without any restriction other than that provided by neighbouring structures. They are not the relicts of domes truncated by penecontemporaneous erosion or Pleistocene glaciation, but depositional forms in which upward growth was restricted. Analogous modern structures occur on a reef platform along the north east shore of hyposaline Lake Clifton, Western Australia. These are tabular thrombolitic microbialites that vary lakeward across the reef platform from low, compound structures to discrete, concentric structures up to 50 cm high. The Lake Clifton forms are, in turn, morphological analogues of microatolls found on coral reef platforms. Coral microatolls are coral colonies with flat, dead tops and living perimeters in which upward growth is constrained by the sea surface. In shallow water they form circular rims of laterally growing coral around a dead centre. In deeper water they form coral heads that develop flat tops on reaching sea level. It is concluded that both the tabular microbialites of Lake Clifton and the type exposures ofCryptozo?n proliferum are analogous to coral microatolls in both form and origin-structures that have been able to grow laterally, but in which upward growth is restricted by subaerial exposure. Similar microatoll microbialites have been described from other modern environments, including Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA and Stocking Island, Exuma Cays, Bahamas. Ancient examples may include some of the “tufa” deposits of the Basal Purbeck Formation in Dorset, UK, as well as the coalesced domal bioherms of the Upper Cambrian Arrinthrunga Formation of the Georgina Basin, Central Australia, and the “washbowl” structures described from the B?tsfjord Formation of the Varanger Peninsula, north Norway. Progress towards a reliable interpretation of ancient microbialites depends on an understanding of modern environments in which analogous structures are forming. This study of microatolls has demonstrated that other sessile life forms may create colonial ecomorphs that, used cautiously, can serve as analogues for understanding the factors controlling the growth and form of microbialites. The surprising lack of pre-Pleistocene examples of microatolls recorded to date has simply been due to their lack of recognition in the geological record. They occur in sequences from the Proterozoic onwards, and provide powerful environmental indicators of ancient reef platforms on which biological growth was adjusted to contemporary sea level.     

Carbonate fabrics in the modern microbialites of Pavilion Lake: two suites of microfabrics that reflect variation in microbial community morphology,growth habit,and lithification

Modern microbialites in Pavilion Lake, BC, provide an analog for ancient non‐stromatolitic microbialites that formed from in situ mineralization. Because Pavilion microbialites are mineralizing under the influence of microbial communities, they provide insights into how biological processes influence microbialite microfabrics and mesostructures. Hemispherical nodules and micrite–microbial crusts are two mesostructures within Pavilion microbialites that are directly associated with photosynthetic communities. Both filamentous cyanobacteria in hemispherical nodules and branching filamentous green algae in micrite–microbial crusts were associated with calcite precipitation at microbialite surfaces and with characteristic microfabrics in the lithified microbialite. Hemispherical nodules formed at microbialite surfaces when calcite precipitated around filamentous cyanobacteria with a radial growth habit. The radial filament pattern was preserved within the microbialite to varying degrees. Some subsurface nodules contained well‐defined filaments, whereas others contained only dispersed organic inclusions. Variation in filament preservation is interpreted to reflect differences in timing and amount of carbonate precipitation relative to heterotrophic decay, with more defined filaments reflecting greater lithification prior to degradation than more diffuse filaments. Micrite–microbial crusts produce the second suite of microfabrics and form in association with filamentous green algae oriented perpendicular to the microbialite surface. Some crusts include calcified filaments, whereas others contained voids that reflect the filamentous community in shape, size, and distribution. Pavilion microbialites demonstrate that microfabric variation can reflect differences in lithification processes and microbial metabolisms as well as microbial community morphology and organization. Even when the morphology of individual filaments or cells is not well preserved, the microbial growth habit can be captured in mesoscale microbialite structures. These results suggest that when petrographic preservation is extremely good, ancient microbialite growth structures and microfabrics can be interpreted in the context of variation in community organization, community composition, and lithification history. Even in the absence of distinct microbial microfabrics, mesostructures can capture microbial community morphology.     

Legacies of recent environmental change in the benthic communities of Lake Joyce, a perennially ice-covered Antarctic lake

Many Antarctic lakes provide habitat for extensive microbial mats that respond on various timescales to environmental change. Lake Joyce contains calcifying microbialites and provides a natural laboratory to constrain how environmental changes influence microbialite development. In Lake Joyce, depth-specific distributions of calcitic microbialites, organic carbon, photosynthetic pigments and photosynthetic potential cannot be explained by current growth conditions, but are a legacy of a 7-m lake level rise between 1973 and 2009. In the well-illuminated margins of the lake, photosynthetically active benthic communities colonised surfaces submerged for just a few years. However, observed increases in accumulated organic material with depth from 5 to 20 m (2-40 mg ash-free dry weight cm(-2)) and the presence of decimetre-scale calcite microbialites at 20-22 m depth, apparently related to in situ photosynthetic growth, are inconsistent with the current distributions of irradiance, photosynthetic pigments and mat photosynthetic potential (as revealed by pulse-amplitude-modulated fluorometry). The microbialites appeared photosynthetically active in 1986 and 1997, but were outside the depth zone where significant phototrophic growth was possible and were weakly photosynthetically competent in 2009. These complex microbial structures have persisted after growth has ceased, demonstrating how fluctuating environmental conditions and the hysteresis between environmental change, biological response and microbialite development can be important factors to consider when interpreting modern, and by inference ancient, microbially mediated structures.     

Lacustrine Nostoc (Nostocales) and associated microbiome generate a new type of modern clotted microbialite

Microbialites are mineral formations formed by microbial communities that are often dominated by cyanobacteria. Carbonate microbialites, known from Proterozoic times through the present, are recognized for sequestering globally significant amounts of inorganic carbon. Recent ecological work has focused on microbial communities dominated by cyanobacteria that produce microbial mats and laminate microbialites (stromatolites). However, the taxonomic composition and functions of microbial communities that generate distinctive clotted microbialites (thrombolites) are less well understood. Here, microscopy and deep shotgun sequencing were used to characterize the microbiome (microbial taxa and their genomes) associated with a single cyanobacterial host linked by 16S sequences to Nostoc commune Vaucher ex Bornet & Flahault, which dominates abundant littoral clotted microbialites in shallow, subpolar, freshwater Laguna Larga in southern Chile. Microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy suggested the hypothesis that adherent hollow carbonate spheres typical of the clotted microbialite begin development on the rigid curved outer surfaces of the Nostoc balls. A surface biofilm included >50 nonoxygenic bacterial genera (taxa other than Nostoc) that indicate diverse ecological functions. The Laguna Larga Nostoc microbiome included the sulfate reducers Desulfomicrobium and Sulfospirillum and genes encoding all known proteins specific to sulfate reduction, a process known to facilitate carbonate deposition by increasing pH. Sequences indicating presence of nostocalean and other types of nifH, nostocalean sulfide:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (indicating anoxygenic photosynthesis), and biosynthetic pathways for the secondary products scytonemin, mycosporine, and microviridin toxin were identified. These results allow comparisons with microbiota and microbiomes of other algae and illuminate biogeochemical roles of ancient microbialites.     

Avian psychology and communication

The evolution of animal communication is a complex issue and one that attracts much research and debate. 'Receiver psychology' has been highlighted as a potential selective force, and we review how avian psychological processes and biases can influence the evolution and design of signals as well as the progress that has been made in testing these ideas in behavioural studies. Interestingly, although birds are a focal group for experimental psychologists and behavioural ecologists alike, the integration of theoretical ideas from psychology into studies of communication has been relatively slow. However, recent operant experiments are starting to address how birds perceive and respond to complex natural signals in an attempt to answer evolutionary problems in communication. This review outlines how a psychological approach to understanding communication is useful, and we hope that it stimulates further research addressing the role of psychological mechanisms in signal evolution.     

Deconstructing Eurocentrism in skin pigmentation research via the incorporation of diverse populations and theoretical perspectives

The evolution of skin pigmentation has been shaped by numerous biological and cultural shifts throughout human history. Vitamin D is considered a driver of depigmentation evolution in humans, given the deleterious health effects associated with vitamin D deficiency, which is often shaped by cultural factors. New advancements in genomics and epigenomics have opened the door to a deeper exploration of skin pigmentation evolution in both contemporary and ancient populations. Data from ancient Europeans has offered great context to the spread of depigmentation alleles via the evaluation of migration events and cultural shifts that occurred during the Neolithic. However, novel insights can further be gained via the inclusion of diverse ancient and contemporary populations. Here we present on how potential biases and limitations in skin pigmentation research can be overcome with the integration of interdisciplinary data that includes both cultural and biological elements, which have shaped the evolutionary history of skin pigmentation in humans.     

Mineralized microbialites as archives of environmental evolution,Laguna Negra,Catamarca Province,Argentina

Environmental fluctuations are recorded in a variety of sedimentary archives of lacustrine depositional systems. Geochemical signals recovered from bottom sediments in closed‐basin lakes are among the most sensitive paleoenvironmental indicators and are commonly used in reconstructing lake evolution. Microbialites (i.e., organosedimentary deposits accreted through microbial trapping and binding of detrital sediment or in situ mineral precipitation on organics [Palaios, 2, 1987, 241]), however, have been largely overlooked as paleoenvironmental repositories. Here, we investigate concentrically laminated mineralized microbialites from Laguna Negra, a high‐altitude (4,100 m above sea level) hypersaline, closed‐basin lake in northwestern Argentina, and explore the potential for recovery of environmental signals from these unique sedimentary archives. Spatial heterogeneity in hydrological regime helps define zones inside Laguna Negra, each with their own morphologically distinct microbialite type. Most notably, platey microbialites (in Zone 3A) are precipitated by evaporative concentration processes, while discoidal oncolites (in Zone 3C) are interpreted result from fluid mixing and biologically mediated nucleation. This spatial heterogeneity is reflected in petrographically distinct carbonate fabrics: micritic, botryoidal, and isopachous. Fabric type is interpreted to reflect a combination of physical and biological influences during mineralization, and paired C‐isotope measurement of carbonate and organic matter supports ecological differences as a dominant control on C‐isotopic evolution between zones. Laminae of Laguna Negra microbialites preserve a range of δ¹³C_carb from +5.75‰ to +18.25‰ and δ¹⁸O_carb from ?2.04‰ to +9.28‰. Temporal trends of lower carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions suggest that the influence of CO₂ degassing associated with evaporation has decreased over time. Combined, these results indicate that microbialite archives can provide data that aid in interpretation of both lake paleohydrology and paleoenvironmental change.     

Metagenomic and stable isotopic analyses of modern freshwater microbialites in Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico

Ancient biologically mediated sedimentary carbonate deposits, including stromatolites and other microbialites, provide insight into environmental conditions on early Earth. The primary limitation to interpreting these records is our lack of understanding regarding microbial processes and the preservation of geochemical signatures in contemporary microbialite systems. Using a combination of metagenomic sequencing and isotopic analyses, this study describes the identity, metabolic potential and chemical processes of microbial communities from living microbialites from Cuatro Ciénegas, Mexico. Metagenomic sequencing revealed a diverse, redox-dependent microbial community associated with the microbialites. The microbialite community is distinct from other marine and freshwater microbial communities, and demonstrates extensive environmental adaptation. The microbialite metagenomes contain a large number of genes involved in the production of exopolymeric substances and the formation of biofilms, creating a complex, spatially structured environment. In addition to the spatial complexity of the biofilm, microbial activity is tightly controlled by sensory and regulatory systems, which allow for coordination of autotrophic and heterotrophic processes. Isotopic measurements of the intracrystalline organic matter demonstrate the importance of heterotrophic respiration of photoautotrophic biomass in the precipitation of calcium carbonate. The genomic and stable isotopic data presented here significantly enhance our evolving knowledge of contemporary biomineralization processes, and are directly applicable to studies of ancient microbialites.     

Coexisting living stromatolites and infaunal metazoans

Microbialites, bioaccretionary structures formed during the growth and metabolism of microorganisms (principally cyanobacteria) were the dominant lifeform in shallow late-Archean and Proterozoic oceans. During the Cambrian radiation of metazoan life, which began ~540 Mya, microbialite abundance and diversity further declined following a peak in the Mesoproterozoic. Notwithstanding contention, grazing and bioturbation effects of metazoans have been hypothesized as the dominant driver of modern microbialite scarcity. However, this metazoan–microbialite exclusion has not been fully explored in the few extant microbialites. Here we provide further evidence showing that living marine layered microbialites (stromatolites) coexist with a persistent assemblage of benthic macro-invertebrates, as has previously been demonstrated in some thrombolitic (clotted) microbialites. Surprisingly, these metazoans have active habits, such as burrowing, which should be expected to disrupt the layered matrix. As other studies have shown, through a network of burrows, metazoans can exploit local diurnal oxygen refugia within microbialites as well as escape predation. Our results, therefore, add novel evidence in support of the hypotheses that geologically, metazoans are not always incompatible with stromatolites, while ecologically, microbialites may act as micro-refugia for modern metazoans and historically have performed a similar inferred role in past ecosystems.     

Ancient DNA studies: new perspectives on old samples

In spite of past controversies, the field of ancient DNA is now a reliable research area due to recent methodological improvements. A series of recent large-scale studies have revealed the true potential of ancient DNA samples to study the processes of evolution and to test models and assumptions commonly used to reconstruct patterns of evolution and to analyze population genetics and palaeoecological changes. Recent advances in DNA technologies, such as next-generation sequencing make it possible to recover DNA information from archaeological and paleontological remains allowing us to go back in time and study the genetic relationships between extinct organisms and their contemporary relatives. With the next-generation sequencing methodologies, DNA sequences can be retrieved even from samples (for example human remains) for which the technical pitfalls of classical methodologies required stringent criteria to guaranty the reliability of the results. In this paper, we review the methodologies applied to ancient DNA analysis and the perspectives that next-generation sequencing applications provide in this field.