Novel lichen-dominated hypolithic communities in the Namib Desert

13 páginas, 8 figurasThe ventral surfaces of translucent rocks from hot desert pavements often harbor hypolithic microbial communities, which are mostly dominated by cyanobacteria. The Namib Desert fog belt supports extensive hypolithic colonization of quartz rocks, which are also colonized by lichens on their dorsal surfaces. Here, we aim to evaluate whether lichens colonize the ventral surface of the rocks (i.e., show hypolithic lifestyle) and compare the bacterial composition of these coastal hypolithic communities with those found inland. Fungal DNA barcoding and fungal and bacterial Illumina metabarcoding were combined with electron microscopy to characterize the composition and spatial structure of hypolithic communities from two (coastal and inland) areas in the Namib Desert. We report, for the first time, the structure and composition of lichen-dominated hypolithic communities found in the coastal zone of the Namib Desert with extensive epilithic lichen cover. Lichen modified areoles with inverted morphology of the genus Stellarangia (three lineages) and Buellia (two lineages) were the main components of these hypolithic communities. Some of these lineages were also found in epilithic habitats. These lichen-dominated hypolithic communities differed in structural organization and bacterial community composition from those found in inland areas. The hypolithic lichen colonization characterized here seems not to be an extension of epilithic or biological soil crust lichen growths but the result of specific sublithic microenvironmental conditions. Moisture derived from fog and dew could be the main driver of this unique colonization.Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. DC acknowledges the financial support of the University of Pretoria and the National Research Foundation of South Africa. AV was supported by the project “CLU-2019–05 – IRNASA/CSIC Unit of Excellence,” funded by the Junta de Castilla y León and co-financed by the European Union (ERDF “Europe drives our growth”). This work was supported by grants CTM2015-64728-C2-2-R (MINECO/FEDER, EU) and PID2019-105469RB-C22 (MICINN).Peer reviewe