Reading and surviving the harsh conditions in desert biological soil crust: the cyanobacterial viewpoint
| Autor: | Hagai Raanan, Bao-Sheng Qiu, Aaron Kaplan, Omer Murik, Simon M. Berkowicz, Hai-Feng Xu, Nadav Oren, Guo-Zheng Dai |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine media_common.quotation_subject Biology Cyanobacteria 01 natural sciences Microbiology Desiccation tolerance 03 medical and health sciences Soil Ecosystem Soil Microbiology media_common Primary producers Ecology Biological soil crust Arid 030104 developmental biology Infectious Diseases Desertification Habitat Reading Adaptation Desert Climate Desiccation 010606 plant biology & botany |
| Zdroj: | FEMS microbiology reviews. 45(6) |
| ISSN: | 1574-6976 |
| Popis: | Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are found in drylands, cover ∼12% of the Earth's surface in arid and semi-arid lands and their destruction is considered an important promoter of desertification. These crusts are formed by the adhesion of soil particles to polysaccharides excreted mostly by filamentous cyanobacteria, which are the pioneers and main primary producers in BSCs. Desert BSCs survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth, and are exposed to daily fluctuations of extreme conditions. The cyanobacteria inhabiting these habitats must precisely read the changing conditions and predict, for example, the forthcoming desiccation. Moreover, they evolved a comprehensive regulation of multiple adaptation strategies to enhance their stress tolerance. Here, we focus on what distinguishes cyanobacteria able to revive after dehydration from those that cannot. While important progress has been made in our understanding of physiological, biochemical and omics aspects, clarification of the sensing, signal transduction and responses enabling desiccation tolerance are just emerging. We plot the trajectory of current research and open questions ranging from general strategies and regulatory adaptations in the hydration/desiccation cycle, to recent advances in our understanding of photosynthetic adaptation. The acquired knowledge provides new insights to mitigate desertification and improve plant productivity under drought conditions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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