Which cyanobacterial genotypes are observed in microbial mats of Antarctic lakes?

Cyanobacteria are the dominant phototrophs in Antarctic biota where they form conspicuous microbial mats at the bottom of lakes and ponds. In the frame of the OSTC project LAQUAN (EV/12/1B), a polyphasic approach was used to study their geographic distribution and the diversity of such communities. Molecular techniques based on rRNA sequences were used to study the saline Lake Rauer2, located in the Rauer Islands, a region of the Eastern Antarctic coast. A clone library was constructed on the sample of Lake Rauer2 and the 57 sequences obtained were grouped into 5 phylotypes.

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