Comparative analysis of halophilic microbial populations at Lake Tyrrell, Australia

The study of life at extreme environments helps us better understand the limits of where organisms can exist and how life adapts to survive. We are studying Lake Tyrell, south-eastern Australia, to gain information on life that survives in a specific extreme environment: evaporitic environments. Possible applications of studying the lake are evolution, biotechnology, and an analog for possible conditions on Mars and primitive Earth. A comparative analysis was conducted on halophilic microorganisms found in planktonic samples and microorganisms found in salt at Lake Tyrrell. As water evaporates from the lake, salinity increases and salt crystals form. When the crystals form, water is trapped within the matrix, and microbes can be found in these fluid inclusions. This study compares microbial populations trapped within salt crystals with previously studied halophilic microbial populations present free-floating in the lake. The DNA from two microbial populations were sequenced: planktonic populations and salt populations. From this, 16S clone libraries and an Archaea and a Bacteria phylogenetic tree with both populations was created. By attempting to study what halophiles are present in the salts through the sequencing of DNA, we have taken another step towards discovering what is viable in these salt crystals and thus what life can possibly survive in different and possibly new environments.