The effects of clays on bacterial community composition during arthropod decay

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_28E6D66A8394
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
The effects of clays on bacterial community composition during arthropod decay
Journal
Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
Author(s)
Corthésy Nora, Saleh Farid, Thomas Camille, Antcliffe Jonathan B., Daley Allison C.
ISSN
1664-2376
1664-2384
ISSN-L
1664-2376
Publication state
Published
Issued date
12/2024
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
143
Number
1
Language
english
Abstract
Fossilization, or the transition of an organism from the biosphere to the geosphere, is a complex mechanism involving numerous biological and geological variables. Bacteria are one of the most significant biotic players to decompose organic matter in natural environments, early on during fossilization. However, bacterial processes are difficult to characterize as many different abiotic conditions can influence bacterial efficiency in degrading tissues. One potentially important variable is the composition and nature of the sediment on which a carcass is deposited after death. We experimentally examined this by decaying the marine shrimp Palaemon varians underwater on three different clay sediments. Samples were then analyzed using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing to identify the bacterial communities associated with each clay system. Results show that samples decaying on the surface of kaolinite have a lower bacterial diversity than those decaying on the surface of bentonite and montmorillonite, which could explain the limited decay of carcasses deposited on this clay. However, this is not the only role played by kaolinite, as a greater proportion of gram-negative over gram-positive bacteria is observed in this system. Gram-positive bacteria are generally thought to be more efficient at recycling complex polysaccharides such as those forming the body walls of arthropods. This is the first experimental evidence of sediments shaping an entire bacterial community. Such interaction between sediments and bacteria might have contributed to arthropods' exquisite preservation and prevalence in kaolinite-rich Lagerstätten of the Cambrian Explosion.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13358-024-00324-7.
Pubmed
Open Access
Yes
Funding(s)
Swiss National Science Foundation / PZ00P2_209102
Swiss National Science Foundation / 198691
University of Lausanne
Create date
24/07/2024 9:10
Last modification date
20/09/2024 12:30
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