A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica
Antarctica is essentially a microbial continent. A surprisingly large biodiversity of adapted microorganisms lives permanently in various biotopes of the ice-free areas (about 44,000 km2). Based on molecular methods and microscopic observations, important findings like the presence of potentially en...
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ftorbi:oai:orbi.ulg.ac.be:2268/190974 2024-04-21T07:52:39+00:00 A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica Un plaidoyer pour la création de zones inviolées pour protéger des zones de référence pour les recherches microbiologiques futures en Antarctique Wilmotte, Annick Willems, Anne Verleyen, Elie Vyverman, Wim Velazquez, David Quesada, Antonio Laughinghouse, Haywood Dail Kleinteich, Julia Pearce, David Elster, Josef Hughes, Kevin CIP - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines - ULiège 2015-09-08 A0 https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/190974 en eng http://polaralpinemicrobiology2015.prf.jcu.cz/data/uploads/pam_2015_boa_small.pdf https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/190974 info:hdl:2268/190974 6th Symposium on Polar and Alpine Microbiology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia [CZ], 6 septembre au 9 septembre 2015 Antarctica Conservation Microbial diversity Inviolate areas ASPA Life sciences Environmental sciences & ecology Microbiology Sciences du vivant Sciences de l’environnement & écologie Microbiologie conference poster not in proceedings http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_18co info:eu-repo/semantics/conferencePoster 2015 ftorbi 2024-03-27T14:47:03Z Antarctica is essentially a microbial continent. A surprisingly large biodiversity of adapted microorganisms lives permanently in various biotopes of the ice-free areas (about 44,000 km2). Based on molecular methods and microscopic observations, important findings like the presence of potentially endemic taxa, their survival in glacial refugia since the continent moved away from Australia and South America, and the determination of biogeographic patterns have been inferred. Moreover, Antarctic microorganisms may contain novel molecules with potentially pharmaceutical or biotechnological interest. However, microbial habitats are under pressure as a result of nthropogenic introductions. Indeed, as a consequence of human presence, non-indigenous microorganisms are released from bodies, clothing, cargo and food into the environment (Cowan et al. 2011). The increase of tourism and its diversification from coastal cruises to adventurous expeditions into the continent, as well as the increase of research stations and associated impacts, constantly create new ‘entry points‘ for microbial contamination (Chown et al. 2012). The impacts of such introductions are still unknown, and might lead to a loss of the native microbial biodiversity, or its modification by lateral gene transfer. The technical progresses in molecular methodologies, like we currently see with Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), mean that very sensitive high-throughput analyses will become increasingly accessible. They have the potential to describe the microbial communities with unprecedented details without preconceived expectations. However, by that time, we might have lost the pristine Antarctic areas that would enable the scientists to study the native microbial flora, its functioning and properties. The Protocol on Environmental Protection of the Antarctic Treaty foresees the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPA) to protect “outstanding environmental, scientific, historic, aesthetic, or wilderness values, any combination of those ... Conference Object Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctique* University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Liège: ORBi (Open Repository and Bibliography) |
op_collection_id |
ftorbi |
language |
English |
topic |
Antarctica Conservation Microbial diversity Inviolate areas ASPA Life sciences Environmental sciences & ecology Microbiology Sciences du vivant Sciences de l’environnement & écologie Microbiologie |
spellingShingle |
Antarctica Conservation Microbial diversity Inviolate areas ASPA Life sciences Environmental sciences & ecology Microbiology Sciences du vivant Sciences de l’environnement & écologie Microbiologie Wilmotte, Annick Willems, Anne Verleyen, Elie Vyverman, Wim Velazquez, David Quesada, Antonio Laughinghouse, Haywood Dail Kleinteich, Julia Pearce, David Elster, Josef Hughes, Kevin A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Antarctica Conservation Microbial diversity Inviolate areas ASPA Life sciences Environmental sciences & ecology Microbiology Sciences du vivant Sciences de l’environnement & écologie Microbiologie |
description |
Antarctica is essentially a microbial continent. A surprisingly large biodiversity of adapted microorganisms lives permanently in various biotopes of the ice-free areas (about 44,000 km2). Based on molecular methods and microscopic observations, important findings like the presence of potentially endemic taxa, their survival in glacial refugia since the continent moved away from Australia and South America, and the determination of biogeographic patterns have been inferred. Moreover, Antarctic microorganisms may contain novel molecules with potentially pharmaceutical or biotechnological interest. However, microbial habitats are under pressure as a result of nthropogenic introductions. Indeed, as a consequence of human presence, non-indigenous microorganisms are released from bodies, clothing, cargo and food into the environment (Cowan et al. 2011). The increase of tourism and its diversification from coastal cruises to adventurous expeditions into the continent, as well as the increase of research stations and associated impacts, constantly create new ‘entry points‘ for microbial contamination (Chown et al. 2012). The impacts of such introductions are still unknown, and might lead to a loss of the native microbial biodiversity, or its modification by lateral gene transfer. The technical progresses in molecular methodologies, like we currently see with Next Generation Sequencing (NGS), mean that very sensitive high-throughput analyses will become increasingly accessible. They have the potential to describe the microbial communities with unprecedented details without preconceived expectations. However, by that time, we might have lost the pristine Antarctic areas that would enable the scientists to study the native microbial flora, its functioning and properties. The Protocol on Environmental Protection of the Antarctic Treaty foresees the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPA) to protect “outstanding environmental, scientific, historic, aesthetic, or wilderness values, any combination of those ... |
author2 |
CIP - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines - ULiège |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Wilmotte, Annick Willems, Anne Verleyen, Elie Vyverman, Wim Velazquez, David Quesada, Antonio Laughinghouse, Haywood Dail Kleinteich, Julia Pearce, David Elster, Josef Hughes, Kevin |
author_facet |
Wilmotte, Annick Willems, Anne Verleyen, Elie Vyverman, Wim Velazquez, David Quesada, Antonio Laughinghouse, Haywood Dail Kleinteich, Julia Pearce, David Elster, Josef Hughes, Kevin |
author_sort |
Wilmotte, Annick |
title |
A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
title_short |
A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
title_full |
A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
A plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in Antarctica |
title_sort |
plea for the creation for inviolate areas to protect reference areas for future microbiology research in antarctica |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/190974 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctique* |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Antarctique* |
op_source |
6th Symposium on Polar and Alpine Microbiology, Ceske Budejovice, Czechia [CZ], 6 septembre au 9 septembre 2015 |
op_relation |
http://polaralpinemicrobiology2015.prf.jcu.cz/data/uploads/pam_2015_boa_small.pdf https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/190974 info:hdl:2268/190974 |
_version_ |
1796935855249555456 |