Rock varnish is a microbial habitat, characterised by thin (5-500 μm) and shiny coatings of iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) oxides associated with clay minerals. This structure is well studied by geologists, and recently there have been reports about the taxonomical composition of its microbiome. In this study, we investigated the rock varnish microbiome using shotgun metagenomics together with analyses of elemental composition, lipid and small molecule biomarkers, and rock surface analyses to explore the biogeography of microbial communities and their functional features. We report taxa and encoded functions represented in metagenomes retrieved from varnish or non-varnish samples, additionally, eight nearly complete genomes have been reconstructed spanning four phyla (Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and TM7). The functional and taxonomic analyses presented in this study provide new insights into the ecosystem dynamics and survival strategies of microbial communities inhabiting varnish and non-varnish rock surfaces.

Department of Biological Sciences University of Calgary Calgary AB T2N 1N4 Canada

Department of Cellular Computational and Integrative Biology CIBIO University of Trento Via Sommarive 9 38123 Trento Italy

Faculty of Science and Technology Free University of Bozen Bolzano piazza Università 5 39100 Bolzano Italy

Institute of Soil Biology Biology Centre Czech Academy of Sciences Na Sádkách 7 370 05 České Budějovice Czech Republic

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