Biodiversity and ecology of Antarctic lakes- models for evolution?

• Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• Main Authors: Laybourn-Parry, J, Pearce, D
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2007
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Microbiology; Microbial Ecology; Antarctic; Vestfold; Vestfold Hills; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2006.1945; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17553775; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/49090

Antarctic lakes are characterised by simplified, truncated food webs. The lakes range from freshwaterto hypersaline with a continuum of physical and chemical conditions that offer a natural laboratory inwhich to study evolution. Molecular studies on Antarctic lake communities are still in their infancy,but there is clear evidence from some taxonomic groups, for example the Cyanobacteria, that there isendemicity. Moreover, many of the bacteria have considerable potential as sources of novelbiochemicals such as low temperature enzymes and anti-freeze proteins. Among the eukaryoticorganisms survival strategies have evolved, among which dependence on mixotrophy inphytoflagellates and some ciliates is common. There is also some evidence of evolution of newspecies of flagellate in the marine derived saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills. Recent work on viruses inpolar lakes demonstrates high abundance and high rates of infection, implying that they may play animportant role in genetic exchange in these extreme environments.