ABSTRACT
From studies on the Bahaman stromatolites and associated microbial mats a great deal about microbial mat lithification and stromatolite formation has been elucidated. Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur cycles have been studied (Pinckney et al. 1995), and the cyanobacteria, aerobic heterotrophs, anoxygenic phototrophs, sulphate reducers, sulphide oxidizers and fermenters have been identified as the key metabolic groups within the stromatolite community (Dupraz and Visscher 2005). Certain species of sulphate-reducing bacteria have been identified by 16S rDNA sequencing, and their location within the community pinpointed using Fluorescent in situ Hybridization (Baumgartner et al. 2006).
