Depth-Resolved Microbial Community Structure and Phosphorus Deficiency Across a 34-cm Mat-Sediment Core in Poza Roja 2, Cuatrocienegas
- 1Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politecnico Nacional (CINVESTAV), Unidad Irapuato
Abstract
Stratified benthic deposits offer crucial modern analogs for Precambrian biogeochemical dynamics, yet whether the vertical organization of deep sedimentary columns reflects depositional history, present-day geochemical conditions, or both remains poorly understood, particularly under extreme oligotrophy. Here, we present a depth-resolved exploratory survey of a continuous 34-cm sediment core partitioned into 11 discrete horizons (L1 to L11) from Poza Roja 2, an alkaline, sub-hypersaline pond in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin, Mexico. Integrating physical stratigraphy, organic carbon and nutrient stoichiometry, and 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we evaluated down-core microbial community structure alongside acute phosphorus scarcity. Molar C:Po and N:Po ratios exceeded canonical Redfield proportions (106:16:1) in every layer, by up to 48.5-fold and 87.8-fold, respectively, both peaking in layer L4. Unconstrained ordination (PCoA) and hierarchical clustering grouped the layers into three compositional zones: upper (L2-L4), intermediate (L5-L6), and basal (L8-L11), with L1 and L7 occupying transitional positions. Archaea accounted for 31.0% of prokaryotic reads, ranging from 8.3% (L5) to 43.7% (L9), and were dominated by SM1-50 (Thermoplasmatota) and Halobacteriota. The phototrophic heliobacterium Heliorestis peaked in the intermediate zone (47.6% of bacterial reads in L6). Constrained Redundancy Analysis models lacked statistical significance (P >= 0.12), highlighting the exploratory nature of a single core (n = 11). This pilot characterization provides a baseline for understanding deep biogenic archives under severe nutrient limitation.
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BibTeX
@misc{gonzalezsanchez2026depthresolved,
title = {{Depth-Resolved Microbial Community Structure and Phosphorus Deficiency Across a 34-cm Mat-Sediment Core in Poza Roja 2, Cuatrocienegas}},
author = {A. Gonzalez-Sanchez and G. Ibarra-Arzave and A. Paniagua-Vargas and F. Garcia-Oliva and G. Olmedo-Alvarez},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.04.756594},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.04.756594v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Depth-Resolved Microbial Community Structure and Phosphorus Deficiency Across a 34-cm Mat-Sediment Core in Poza Roja 2, Cuatrocienegas
AU - A. Gonzalez-Sanchez
AU - G. Ibarra-Arzave
AU - A. Paniagua-Vargas
AU - F. Garcia-Oliva
AU - G. Olmedo-Alvarez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.04.756594
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.04.756594v1
AB - Stratified benthic deposits offer crucial modern analogs for Precambrian biogeochemical dynamics, yet whether the vertical organization of deep sedimentary columns reflects depositional history, present-day geochemical conditions, or both remains poorly understood, particularly under extreme oligotrophy. Here, we present a depth-resolved exploratory survey of a continuous 34-cm sediment core partitioned into 11 discrete horizons (L1 to L11) from Poza Roja 2, an alkaline, sub-hypersaline pond in the Cuatro Cienegas Basin, Mexico. Integrating physical stratigraphy, organic carbon and nutrient stoichiometry, and 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding, we evaluated down-core microbial community structure alongside acute phosphorus scarcity. Molar C:Po and N:Po ratios exceeded canonical Redfield proportions (106:16:1) in every layer, by up to 48.5-fold and 87.8-fold, respectively, both peaking in layer L4. Unconstrained ordination (PCoA) and hierarchical clustering grouped the layers into three compositional zones: upper (L2-L4), intermediate (L5-L6), and basal (L8-L11), with L1 and L7 occupying transitional positions. Archaea accounted for 31.0% of prokaryotic reads, ranging from 8.3% (L5) to 43.7% (L9), and were dominated by SM1-50 (Thermoplasmatota) and Halobacteriota. The phototrophic heliobacterium Heliorestis peaked in the intermediate zone (47.6% of bacterial reads in L6). Constrained Redundancy Analysis models lacked statistical significance (P >= 0.12), highlighting the exploratory nature of a single core (n = 11). This pilot characterization provides a baseline for understanding deep biogenic archives under severe nutrient limitation.
ER -