Open AccessStructure and diversity of bacterial, eukaryotic and archaeal communities in glacial cryoconite holes from the A rctic and the A ntarctic
Author(s) -
Cameron Karen A.,
Hodson Andrew J.,
Osborn A. Mark
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
fems microbiology ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.377
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1574-6941
pISSN - 0168-6496
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6941.2011.01277.x
Subject(s) - biology , arctic , glacial period , diversity (politics) , the arctic , ecology , archaea , psychrophile , astrobiology , oceanography , bacteria , paleontology , anthropology , sociology , geology
The cryosphere presents some of the most challenging conditions for life on earth. Nevertheless, (micro)biota survive in a range of niches in glacial systems, including water‐filled depressions on glacial surfaces termed cryoconite holes (centimetre to metre in diameter and up to 0.5 m deep) that contain dark granular material (cryoconite). In this study, the structure of bacterial and eukaryotic cryoconite communities from ten different locations in the A rctic and A ntarctica was compared using T ‐ RFLP analysis of rRNA genes. Community structure varied with geography, with greatest differences seen between communities from the A rctic and the A ntarctic. DNA sequencing of rRNA genes revealed considerable diversity, with individual cryoconite hole communities containing between six and eight bacterial phyla and five and eight eukaryotic ‘first‐rank’ taxa and including both bacterial and eukaryotic photoautotrophs. Bacterial F irmicutes and D eltaproteobacteria and E psilonproteobacteria , eukaryotic R hizaria, H aptophyta, C hoanomonada and C entroheliozoa, and archaea were identified for the first time in cryoconite ecosystems. Archaea were only found within A ntarctic locations, with the majority of sequences (77%) related to members of the T haumarchaeota. In conclusion, this research has revealed that A ntarctic and A rctic cryoconite holes harbour geographically distinct highly diverse communities and has identified hitherto unknown bacterial, eukaryotic and archaeal taxa, therein.