地质微生物学中几项最新研究进展

摘要

地质微生物学是地质学和微生物学之间的交叉学科,在过去的十几年中已取得了突飞猛进的发展.该研究领域涉及全球许多种极端环境,例如从地下深部结晶岩、古沉积岩、到现代超盐度湖泊、干旱的沙漠和热液喷口系统等.因为地质微生物学进展的综述可能要用一本专著方可阐述清楚,作者在此仅对地质微生物学几个活跃的前缘研究领域进行了综述,包括大陆深部、盐碱环境、干旱沙漠等极端环境中的微生物生态,白云石的微生物成因,古代沉积岩中的微生物古DNA及其环境意义以及海洋地质微生物学等几个方面.这些研究证明了将地质过程和微生物作用联系起来的重要性.%The last decade has seen an extraordinary growth of Geomicrobiology. Microorganisms have been studied in numerous extreme environments on Earth, ranging from crystalline rocks from the deep subsurface, ancient sedimentary rocks and hypersaline lakes, to dry deserts and deep-ocean hydrothermal vent systems. In light of this recent progress, we review several currently active research frontiers: deep continental subsurface microbiology, microbial ecology in saline lakes, microbial formation of dolomite, geomicrobiology in dry deserts, fossil DNA and its use in recovery of paleoenvironmental conditions, and geomicrobiology of oceans. Throughout this article we emphasize geomicrobiological processes in these extreme environments.