Bacterial characterization of the snow cover at Spitzberg, Svalbard

• Main Authors: Amato, Pierre, Hennebelle, R., Magand, O., Sancelme, Martine, Delort, A.M., Barbante, C., Boutron, C., Ferrari, C.
• Other Authors: Synthèse et étude de systèmes à intêret biologique (SEESIB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2007
• Subjects: biodegradation; bacteria; snow; Arctic; cold environment; Svalbard; glacier; Spitzberg
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00125611; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00198

A sampling campaign was organized during spring 2004 in Spitzberg, Svalbard, in the area around the scientific base of Ny-Alesund, to characterize the snow pack bacterial population. Total bacteria counts were established by 40,6-diamino-2- phenylindole (DAPI) in the seasonal snow pack bordering the sea. On the sea shore, bacterial concentration was about 6x104 cells mL-1, without any significant variation according to depth. In the accumulation snow layer of the glacier, concentrations were about 2x104 cellsmL-1, except in the 2003 summer layer, where it reached 2x105 cellsmL-1, as the result of cell multiplication allowed by higher temperature and snow melting. Strains isolated from the seasonal snow pack were identified from their 16S rRNA gene sequences, and lodged in GenBank. They belong to the Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes and Actinobacteria. They are closely related to cold environment bacteria, as revealed by phylogenetic tree constructions, and two appear to be of unknown affiliation. Using 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, it was shown that these isolates have the capacity to degrade organic compounds found in Arctic snow (propionate, acetate and formate), and this can allow them to develop when snow melts, and thus to be actively involved in snow chemistry