Metagenomic/Metatranscriptomic Study of Organisms Entrapped in Ice at Four Locations in Antarctica
Year: 2013
Type: article
Abstract: Antarctica has one of the most extreme environments on Earth.The biodiversity and the species richness on the continent are low and decrease with increases in elevation and distance from the coastal regions.Previous scientific research in Antarctica has been used to understand the past climatic conditions, survival mechanisms used by the microbial communities and various environmental factors that contribute the dispersal of microorganisms.The research presented here is a comparison of microbial inclusions in ice at four locations in Antarctica (Byrd, Taylor Dome, Vostok and J-9) to identify the factors that influence the microbial distribution patterns and to investigate survival of the micobes under harsh conditions.Culturedependent and culture independent techniques (e.g., metagenomics and metatranscriptomics) were used to analyze sequences present in ice cores from Antarctica.The sequences analyzed matched those from Spirochaetes, Verrucomicrobia, Bacteroideters, Cyanobacteria, Deinococcus-Thermus, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, Euryarchaeota and Ascomycota.Analysis of the metagenomic/metatranscriptomic sequences was also carried out to characterize the various pathways represented in the diverse communities.Analysis of the data revealed that the numbers of unique sequences obtained from the samples were few (Taylor Dome (51), Byrd (43), Vostok (33) and J-9 (40).The number of unique sequences was lowest from the sample obtained at the most elevated location in the interior of Antarctica (Vostok (33))and highest from the sample that was closest to the Antarctic coast (Taylor Dome ( 51)).The samples from all the four locations appeared to harbor very few species of microorganisms (Taylor Dome (12), Byrd (13), Vostok (6), and J-9 (7)).Analysis of the microbial pathways revealed that the microorganisms are able to utilize various sources of carbon, recycle nitrogen
Author: Sammy Oguti Juma
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Language: English
Topic: Polar Research and Ecology
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2615359528