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Fig. 1 | Microbiome

Fig. 1

From: Spatial segregation of the biological soil crust microbiome around its foundational cyanobacterium, Microcoleus vaginatus, and the formation of a nitrogen-fixing cyanosphere

Fig. 1

Biocrust samples from the Chihuahuan and the Great Basin deserts. a, e Top views of Chihuahuan (a) and Great Basin (e) biocrusts before bundle picking. Depressions are from coring for the bulk soil samples. b, f Examples of cyanobacterium bundles picked from the biocrust. Each bundle comprised the cyanobacterium and the exopolysaccharide sheath that bundles the filaments together and hosts the cyanosphere community. c, g A closer look at the bundles. d, h Single M. vaginatus thricomes under the compound microscope (× 100) for preliminary identification, before corroborating their identity by 16S rRNA gene typing. FB, Fort Bliss—hot desert; HSN, Hill Sandy soil—cold desert

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