Microbial Mats Definition

Sand rock and other sediments and the vast majority is autotrophic that is utilize.

Microbial mats definition. Microbial mats are highly resilient organosedimentary systems 1 2 3 4 in which mat communities are represented by a dynamic and complex ecosystem comprised of photoautotrophic photoheterotrophic chemoautotrophic and heterotrophic populations 4 5 these microbial communities commonly show a laminated structure that reflects the occurrence of functionally distinct groups of organisms. Microbial mats play an important role in forming geological features known as stromatolites. Some scientists argue that the earliest multicellular organisms the ediacaran fauna lived affixed to the mats and gained their energy through symbiosis with algae distributed throughout their bodies at least that s what seems plausible as ediacaran organisms lack a gut or any obvious feeding apparatus. Microbial mats are vertically stratified communities of functional groups of microorganisms embedded in an organic matrix that can also contain various amounts of minerals such as silicates and carbonates stal 2012 microbial mats are benthic communities that grow on a solid substrate e g.

They colonize environments ranging in temperature from 40 c to 120 c. A microbial mat is a multi layered sheet of microorganisms mainly bacteria and archaea and also just bacterial microbial mats grow at interfaces between different types of material mostly on submerged or moist surfaces but a few survive in deserts. Microbial mats as a study model is an easily accessible viable laboratory and these communities present with varying degrees of complexity from simple non phototrophic mats ynp mats with a low diversity of phototrophs to the complex hypersaline and mats obtained from guerrero negro méxico and llamará chile. These are rocky mounds built up over time as mats trap and interact with sediment.

The microbial cells growing in a biofilm are physiologically distinct from planktonic cells of the same organism which by contrast are single cells that may float or swim in a liquid medium. Biofilms can form on the teeth of most animals as dental plaque where they may cause tooth decay and gum disease. Antimicrobial floor mats are specially designed for installation in highly sensitive and sterile working environments. A few are found as endosymbionts of animals.

Microbial mats are often centimeter thick multilayered structures of microorganisms mainly bacteria archaea fungi and sometimes these mats are enriched with protozoans. As such antimicrobial floor mats are also referred to as contamination control floor mats. Microbial mats are the context within the first multicellular organisms evolved. Microbial biofilms are in contrast much thinner 10 100 µm than microbial mats and have a different architecture characklis and wilderer 1989.

They are an extreme example of an interfacial aquatic habitat in which many microbial groups are laterally tightly compressed into a thin mat of biological activity. Microbial mats can be considered a specialized type of biofilm. These mats are used to prevent contamination and cross contamination in these sanitized commercial and industrial sites.