Diversity of an uncommon elastic hypersaline microbial mat along a small-scale transect

We evaluated the microbial diversity and metabolome profile of an uncommon hypersaline elastic microbial mat from Cuatro Cienegas Basin (CCB) in the Chihuahuan Desert of Coahuila, Mexico. We collected ten samples on a small scale transect (1.5-m) and described its microbial diversity through NGS-based ITS and 16S rDNA gene sequencing. A very low number of taxa comprised a considerable proportion of the mat and were shared across all sampling points, whereas the rare biosphere was more phylogenetically diverse (Faith's Phylogenetic Diversity (FPD) index) and phylogenetically disperse (using a null model distribution of Phylogenetic Species Clustering (nmdPSC)) than the abundant (high read count) taxa for both analyzed libraries. We also found a distinctive metabolome profile for each sample and were able to tentatively annotate several classes of compounds with relevant biological properties.