Microbial Survival in the Makgadikgadi Basin, Botswana

自然形成的盐田在地球上的许多干旱和半干旱环境中被发现，包括美国，澳大利亚，中国和非洲。研究表明，某些微生物（嗜盐生物，即嗜盐生物）可以在盐田环境中生存，并在高盐度、干燥、每日温度波动和强烈太阳辐射的情况下生存。博茨瓦纳的Makgadikgadi盆地是一个起源于更新世的大型古湖泊系统的遗迹。如今，该盆地由一个由几个盘组成的短暂湖泊系统组成。最大的盘是西部的Ntwetwe盘和东部的Sua盘（图1），每个盘都包含独特的形态特征，是古代湖泊系统的遗迹。这些特征受当地环境因素如降水、入水和风成活动的影响，可以作为气候信息的古气候档案。初步工作表明，不同的微生物群落存在与泛，然而，鲜为人知的是，这些微生物群落所利用的生态策略，以应对环境的挑战，由泛。

Naturally formed salt pans are found in many arid and semiarid environments on Earth, including the USA, Australia, China and Africa. Studies have shown that certain microorganism (halophiles, i.e. salt loving) can life within salt pan environments and survive exposure to high salinity, desiccation, daily fluctuations in temperature and intense solar radiation. The Makgadikgadi Basin in Botswana is the relict of a mega-paleolake system that originated during the Pleistocene. Nowadays, the basin consists of a system of ephemeral lakes consisting of several pans. The largest pans are the Ntwetwe Pan in the west and the Sua Pan in the East (Figure 1), each containing distinct morphological features that are remnants of an ancient lake system. These features have been influenced by local environmental factors such as precipitation, water inflow and aeolian activity, and can act as a paleoclimatic archives for climate information. Preliminary work has demonstrated that diverse microbial communities exist with the pan; however, little is known about the ecological strategies utilized by these microbial communities in response to the environmental challenges presented by the pan.