Elevational Constraints on the Composition and Genomic Attributes of Microbial Communities in Antarctic Soils

• Published in: mSystems
• Main Authors: Dragone, Nicholas B., Henley, Jessica B., Holland-Moritz, Hannah, Diaz, Melisa, Hogg, Ian D., Lyons, W. Berry, Wall, Diana H., Adams, Byron J., Fierer, Noah
• Other Authors: Mackelprang, Rachel, National Science Foundation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Society for Microbiology 2022
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/msystems.01330-21; https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/msystems.01330-21

Antarctic soils represent an ideal system to study how environmental properties shape the taxonomic and functional diversity of microbial communities given the relatively low diversity of Antarctic soil microbial communities and the pronounced environmental gradients that occur across soils located in reasonable proximity to one another. Moreover, the challenging environmental conditions typical of most Antarctic soils present an opportunity to investigate the traits that allow soil microbes to persist in some of the most inhospitable habitats on Earth.