Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica
Abstract Glaciers are populated by a large number of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes. Several factors such as solar radiation, nutrient availability and water content greatly determine the diversity and abundance of these microbial populations, the type of metabolism a...
Published in: | Scientific Reports |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 https://doaj.org/article/f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c 2023-05-15T13:41:36+02:00 Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica Emma Martinez-Alonso Sonia Pena-Perez Sandra Serrano Eva Garcia-Lopez Alberto Alcazar Cristina Cid 2019-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 https://doaj.org/article/f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c EN eng Nature Portfolio https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c Scientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2019) Medicine R Science Q article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 2022-12-31T09:02:49Z Abstract Glaciers are populated by a large number of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes. Several factors such as solar radiation, nutrient availability and water content greatly determine the diversity and abundance of these microbial populations, the type of metabolism and the biogeochemical cycles. Three ecosystems can be differentiated in glaciers: supraglacial, subglacial and englacial ecosystems. Firstly, the supraglacial ecosystem, sunlit and oxygenated, is predominantly populated by photoautotrophic microorganisms. Secondly, the subglacial ecosystem contains a majority of chemoautotrophs that are fed on the mineral salts of the rocks and basal soil. Lastly, the englacial ecosystem is the least studied and the one that contains the smallest number of microorganisms. However, these unknown englacial microorganisms establish a food web and appear to have an active metabolism. In order to study their metabolic potentials, samples of englacial ice were taken from an Antarctic glacier. Microorganisms were analyzed by a polyphasic approach that combines a set of -omic techniques: 16S rRNA sequencing, culturomics and metaproteomics. This combination provides key information about diversity and functions of microbial populations, especially in rare habitats. Several whole essential proteins and enzymes related to metabolism and energy production, recombination and translation were found that demonstrate the existence of cellular activity at subzero temperatures. In this way it is shown that the englacial microorganisms are not quiescent, but that they maintain an active metabolism and play an important role in the glacial microbial community. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic Deception Island ENVELOPE(-60.633,-60.633,-62.950,-62.950) Scientific Reports 9 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
spellingShingle |
Medicine R Science Q Emma Martinez-Alonso Sonia Pena-Perez Sandra Serrano Eva Garcia-Lopez Alberto Alcazar Cristina Cid Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Abstract Glaciers are populated by a large number of microorganisms including bacteria, archaea and microeukaryotes. Several factors such as solar radiation, nutrient availability and water content greatly determine the diversity and abundance of these microbial populations, the type of metabolism and the biogeochemical cycles. Three ecosystems can be differentiated in glaciers: supraglacial, subglacial and englacial ecosystems. Firstly, the supraglacial ecosystem, sunlit and oxygenated, is predominantly populated by photoautotrophic microorganisms. Secondly, the subglacial ecosystem contains a majority of chemoautotrophs that are fed on the mineral salts of the rocks and basal soil. Lastly, the englacial ecosystem is the least studied and the one that contains the smallest number of microorganisms. However, these unknown englacial microorganisms establish a food web and appear to have an active metabolism. In order to study their metabolic potentials, samples of englacial ice were taken from an Antarctic glacier. Microorganisms were analyzed by a polyphasic approach that combines a set of -omic techniques: 16S rRNA sequencing, culturomics and metaproteomics. This combination provides key information about diversity and functions of microbial populations, especially in rare habitats. Several whole essential proteins and enzymes related to metabolism and energy production, recombination and translation were found that demonstrate the existence of cellular activity at subzero temperatures. In this way it is shown that the englacial microorganisms are not quiescent, but that they maintain an active metabolism and play an important role in the glacial microbial community. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Emma Martinez-Alonso Sonia Pena-Perez Sandra Serrano Eva Garcia-Lopez Alberto Alcazar Cristina Cid |
author_facet |
Emma Martinez-Alonso Sonia Pena-Perez Sandra Serrano Eva Garcia-Lopez Alberto Alcazar Cristina Cid |
author_sort |
Emma Martinez-Alonso |
title |
Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
title_short |
Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
title_full |
Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in Deception Island, Antarctica |
title_sort |
taxonomic and functional characterization of a microbial community from a volcanic englacial ecosystem in deception island, antarctica |
publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 https://doaj.org/article/f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.633,-60.633,-62.950,-62.950) |
geographic |
Antarctic Deception Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Deception Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island |
op_source |
Scientific Reports, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322 doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 2045-2322 https://doaj.org/article/f57bbf2e32ef485a8f8316343916418c |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-47994-9 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766152920257003520 |