Bacterial characterization of the snow cover at Spitzberg, Svalbard

• Published in: FEMS Microbiology Ecology
• Main Authors: Amato, Pierre, Hennebelle, Raphaëlle, Magand, Olivier, Sancelme, Martine, Delort, A.M., Barbante, Carlo, Boutron, Claude, F., Ferrari, Christophe, P.
• Other Authors: Synthèse et étude de systèmes à intêret biologique (SEESIB), Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 (UBP)-Institut de Chimie - CNRS Chimie (INC-CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement (LGGE), Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers de Grenoble (OSUG), Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Joseph Fourier - Grenoble 1 (UJF)-Institut polytechnique de Grenoble - Grenoble Institute of Technology (Grenoble INP )-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies pour l'environnement et l'agriculture (IRSTEA)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Environmental Sciences Department, University of Ca’ Foscari Venice, Italy, Polytech Grenoble
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: bacteria; snow; Arctic; cold environment; biodegradation; [SDU.STU.GL]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Glaciology; glacier; Ny Ålesund; Ny-Ålesund; Spitzberg; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-00375431; https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1574-6941.2006.00198.x

International audience A sampling campaign was organized during spring 2004 in Spitzberg, Svalbard, in the area around the scientific base of Ny-Ålesund, to characterize the snow pack bacterial population. Total bacteria counts were established by 4',6-diamino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) in the seasonal snow pack bordering the sea. On the sea shore, bacterial concentration was about 6 × 104 cells mL−1, without any significant variation according to depth. In the accumulation snow layer of the glacier, concentrations were about 2 × 104 cells mL−1, except in the 2003 summer layer, where it reached 2 × 105 cells mL−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.