Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones
Quartz stone sublithic cyanobacterial communities are common throughout the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica (68°S 78°E) contributing biomass in areas otherwise devoid of any type of vegetation. In this study, the sublithic microbial community and underlying soil was investigated using a variety o...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102000000237 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102000000237 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0954102000000237 2024-05-19T07:32:36+00:00 Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones Smith, Matthew C. Bowman, John P. Scott, Fiona J. Line, Martin A. 2000 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102000000237 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102000000237 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms Antarctic Science volume 12, issue 2, page 177-184 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 journal-article 2000 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102000000237 2024-05-02T06:50:50Z Quartz stone sublithic cyanobacterial communities are common throughout the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica (68°S 78°E) contributing biomass in areas otherwise devoid of any type of vegetation. In this study, the sublithic microbial community and underlying soil was investigated using a variety of traditional and molecular methods. Although direct epifluorescent counts of the sublithic growth (average 1.1 × 10 9 cells g −1 dry weight) and underlying soil (0.5 × 10 9 cells g −1 dry weight) were similar, sublith viable counts (2.1 × 10 7 cfu g −1 dry weight) were on average 3-orders of magnitude higher in the subliths. Enrichment and molecular analyses revealed the predominate cyanobacteria were non-halophilic, able to grow optimally at 15–20°C, and were related to the Phormidium subgroup with several distinct morphotypes and phylotypes present. Sublithic heterotrophic bacterial populations and those of underlying soils included mostly psychrotolerant taxa typical of Antarctic soil. However, psychrophilic and halophilic bacteria, mostly members of the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria and the order Cytophagales, were abundant in the sublithic growth film (20–40% of the viable count and about 50% of isolated individual taxa) but absent from underlying soils. It is suggested that quartz stone subliths might constitute a “refuge” for psychrophilic bacteria. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica Cambridge University Press Antarctic Science 12 2 177 184 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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crcambridgeupr |
language |
English |
description |
Quartz stone sublithic cyanobacterial communities are common throughout the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica (68°S 78°E) contributing biomass in areas otherwise devoid of any type of vegetation. In this study, the sublithic microbial community and underlying soil was investigated using a variety of traditional and molecular methods. Although direct epifluorescent counts of the sublithic growth (average 1.1 × 10 9 cells g −1 dry weight) and underlying soil (0.5 × 10 9 cells g −1 dry weight) were similar, sublith viable counts (2.1 × 10 7 cfu g −1 dry weight) were on average 3-orders of magnitude higher in the subliths. Enrichment and molecular analyses revealed the predominate cyanobacteria were non-halophilic, able to grow optimally at 15–20°C, and were related to the Phormidium subgroup with several distinct morphotypes and phylotypes present. Sublithic heterotrophic bacterial populations and those of underlying soils included mostly psychrotolerant taxa typical of Antarctic soil. However, psychrophilic and halophilic bacteria, mostly members of the alpha subdivision of the Proteobacteria and the order Cytophagales, were abundant in the sublithic growth film (20–40% of the viable count and about 50% of isolated individual taxa) but absent from underlying soils. It is suggested that quartz stone subliths might constitute a “refuge” for psychrophilic bacteria. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Smith, Matthew C. Bowman, John P. Scott, Fiona J. Line, Martin A. |
spellingShingle |
Smith, Matthew C. Bowman, John P. Scott, Fiona J. Line, Martin A. Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
author_facet |
Smith, Matthew C. Bowman, John P. Scott, Fiona J. Line, Martin A. |
author_sort |
Smith, Matthew C. |
title |
Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
title_short |
Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
title_full |
Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
title_fullStr |
Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
title_full_unstemmed |
Sublithic bacteria associated with Antarctic quartz stones |
title_sort |
sublithic bacteria associated with antarctic quartz stones |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102000000237 https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102000000237 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Science Antarctica |
op_source |
Antarctic Science volume 12, issue 2, page 177-184 ISSN 0954-1020 1365-2079 |
op_rights |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0954102000000237 |
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Antarctic Science |
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12 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
177 |
op_container_end_page |
184 |
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1799470713387614208 |