Analyzing the surface and subsurface biosphere along a moisture transect in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile. Atacama Desert extreme habitats

Our study is a multidisciplinary approach to characterize the surface (0-5 cm) and the subsurface (20-30 cm, 50 cm, 100 cm) of soil sediments in the Atacama Desert as microbial habitats. Geochemical and physical parameters as well as biomarkers (PLFA, ATP concentrations, metabolites, microbial activity) of the sediment samples have been determined. We applied MiSeq 16S rRNA analysis for 89 samples and looked for correlations to environmental parameters.