Socompa Stromatolite
STROMATOLITES AT SOCOMPA LAKE:  MICROBIALCOMMUNITIES DEVELOPING UNDER ALKALINE,  HIPERARSENIC AND HIPERSALYNE VOLCANIC ASSOCIATED  ECOSYSTEM OVER 4000 M IN THE ARGENTINEAN PUNA
DNA from Stromatolite was extracted. 16S rDNA was amplified using RDP designed primers and where sequenced using 454 titanium chemistry, obtaining 113,255 high quality-filtered sequences.
The High-Altitude Andean Lakes (HAAL) in the Argentinian Puna-High Andes region  represent an almost unexplored ecosystem of shallow lakes at altitudes from 3,000  to 6,000 m. Although exposed to extreme conditions: i.e. volcanic settings, high UV  irradiation, hypersalinity, drastic temperature changes, desiccation, and high pH, an  outstanding microbial biodiversity has developed, most of them ordered in multi-  layered flat mats and stubby pillars called microbialites. Calcareous cyanobacterial  microbialites defined as stromatolites and thrombolites were common in ancient  shallow marine environments. Today, they are restricted to a few lacustrine and  perimarine settings. Compared to them, those from HAAL are the only ones that exist  under such hostile environmental conditions. Moreover, they experience environmental  conditions resembling those that prevailed at the early Earth, making their study even  more promising as a modern template of Early Life development. The present dataset of bacterial diversity assessed by pyrosequencingV4 region of 16S rRNA gene correspond to the  first observation of extreme microbialites harboring a diverse eu-endolythic microbiota  at Laguna Socompa (4000 m asl, pH 9; salinity: 83 ppm; 35 mg L-1 As) at the bottom of  Socompa Volcano Northwest Argentina.