Carbon-fixation rates and associated microbial communities residing in arid and ephemerally wet Antarctic Dry Valley soils

• Main Authors: University of Delaware, Thomas Niederberger
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity 2015
• Subjects: Antarctica; Dry Valley; Antarctic; Victoria Land; McMurdo Dry Valleys; Miers; Miers Valley; Adams Glacier; Lake Miers; Miers Glacier; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://search.dataone.org/view/knb.756.1

This data-set contains nucleotide sequences associated with the following described study. In this study, C-fixation rates measured in the bulk arid soils (<5% moisture) ranged from below detection limits to ~12 nmol C/cc/h. Rates in ephemerally wet soils ranged from ~20 to 750 nmol C/cc/h, equating to turnover rates of ~7 days to 140 days, with lower rates in stream-associated soils as compared to lake-associated soils. Analysis of the gene encoding the large subunit of RuBisCO (cbbL) in these soils identified green-type sequences dominated by the 1B cyanobacterial-related phylotype in both arid and wet soils including the RNA fraction of the wet soil. Red-type cbbL genes were dominated by 1C actinobacterial-related phylotypes in arid soils, with wetted soils containing nearly equal proportions of 1C (actinobacterial and proteobacterial signatures) and 1D (algal) related phylotypes. Complementary 16S rRNA and 18S rRNA gene sequencing also revealed distinct differences in community structure between biotopes. This study is the first of its kind to examine C-fixation rates in Dry Valley soils and the microorganisms potentially responsible for these activities.