The role of cyanobacterial exopolysaccharides in structuring desert microbial crusts
Citation
Ahuva Vonshak, Giora J Kidron, Aharon Abeliovich, and Gideon Mazor, The role of cyanobacterial exopolysaccharides in structuring desert microbial crusts: .
Summary
Microbial crusts are present on surfaces of soils throughout the world. A key feature of these crusts in arid zones is the abundance of filamentous sheath-forming and polysaccharide-excreting cyanobacteria. Several isolates of cyanobacteria were prepared from crust samples (Nizzana sand dunes, north-western Negev Desert, Israel). Optimal growth conditions for two such isolates of Microcoleus sp. were defined, and the role of the excreted polysaccharides in affecting the hydrological properties of crust-covered sand dunes was studied. Experiments with the native crust microbial population demonstrated the possibility of net primary productivity at both high relative air humidities and low moisture content. Published in FEMS Microbiology [...]
Summary
Microbial crusts are present on surfaces of soils throughout the world. A key feature of these crusts in arid zones is the abundance of filamentous sheath-forming and polysaccharide-excreting cyanobacteria. Several isolates of cyanobacteria were prepared from crust samples (Nizzana sand dunes, north-western Negev Desert, Israel). Optimal growth conditions for two such isolates of Microcoleus sp. were defined, and the role of the excreted polysaccharides in affecting the hydrological properties of crust-covered sand dunes was studied. Experiments with the native crust microbial population demonstrated the possibility of net primary productivity at both high relative air humidities and low moisture content.
Published in FEMS Microbiology Ecology, volume 21, issue 2, on pages 121 - 130, in 1996.
