Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica

New evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which aerobiological organisms are recruited into existing communities, the ultimate impact of microbial dispersal is difficult to ass...

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Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Herbold, Craig W., Lee, Charles Kai-Wu, McDonald, Ian R., Cary, S. Craig
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9399
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875
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spelling ftunivwaikato:oai:researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz:10289/9399 2024-02-11T09:57:27+01:00 Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica Herbold, Craig W. Lee, Charles Kai-Wu McDonald, Ian R. Cary, S. Craig England 2014-05-01 application/pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9399 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875 en eng NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP NATURE COMMUNICATIONS Herbold, C. W., Lee, C. K.-W., McDonald, I. R., & Cary, S. C. (2014). Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 5. http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875 2041-1723 https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9399 doi:10.1038/ncomms4875 © 2014 Nature Publishing Group.This is an author's accepted version of an article published in Nature Communications. Science & Technology Multidisciplinary Sciences Science & Technology - Other Topics RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENES CYANOBACTERIUM MASTIGOCLADUS-LAMINOSUS NORTHERN VICTORIA-LAND MOUNT EREBUS HOT-SPRINGS DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS MT EREBUS BACTERIA MICROORGANISMS SOIL Journal Article 2014 ftunivwaikato https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875 2024-01-23T18:25:26Z New evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which aerobiological organisms are recruited into existing communities, the ultimate impact of microbial dispersal is difficult to assess. To evaluate the ecological significance of global-scale microbial dispersal, molecular genetic approaches were used to examine microbial communities inhabiting fumarolic soils on Mt. Erebus, the southernmost geothermal site on Earth. There, hot, fumarolic soils provide an effective environmental filter to test the viability of organisms that have been distributed via aeolian transport over geological time. We find that cosmopolitan thermophiles dominate the surface, whereas endemic Archaea and members of poorly understood Bacterial candidate divisions dominate the immediate subsurface. These results imply that aeolian processes readily disperse viable organisms globally, where they are incorporated into pre-existing complex communities of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Victoria Land The University of Waikato: Research Commons Mount Erebus ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-77.533,-77.533) Victoria Land Nature Communications 5 1
institution Open Polar
collection The University of Waikato: Research Commons
op_collection_id ftunivwaikato
language English
topic Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENES
CYANOBACTERIUM MASTIGOCLADUS-LAMINOSUS
NORTHERN VICTORIA-LAND
MOUNT EREBUS
HOT-SPRINGS
DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS
MT EREBUS
BACTERIA
MICROORGANISMS
SOIL
spellingShingle Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENES
CYANOBACTERIUM MASTIGOCLADUS-LAMINOSUS
NORTHERN VICTORIA-LAND
MOUNT EREBUS
HOT-SPRINGS
DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS
MT EREBUS
BACTERIA
MICROORGANISMS
SOIL
Herbold, Craig W.
Lee, Charles Kai-Wu
McDonald, Ian R.
Cary, S. Craig
Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
topic_facet Science & Technology
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Science & Technology - Other Topics
RIBOSOMAL-RNA GENES
CYANOBACTERIUM MASTIGOCLADUS-LAMINOSUS
NORTHERN VICTORIA-LAND
MOUNT EREBUS
HOT-SPRINGS
DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS
MT EREBUS
BACTERIA
MICROORGANISMS
SOIL
description New evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which aerobiological organisms are recruited into existing communities, the ultimate impact of microbial dispersal is difficult to assess. To evaluate the ecological significance of global-scale microbial dispersal, molecular genetic approaches were used to examine microbial communities inhabiting fumarolic soils on Mt. Erebus, the southernmost geothermal site on Earth. There, hot, fumarolic soils provide an effective environmental filter to test the viability of organisms that have been distributed via aeolian transport over geological time. We find that cosmopolitan thermophiles dominate the surface, whereas endemic Archaea and members of poorly understood Bacterial candidate divisions dominate the immediate subsurface. These results imply that aeolian processes readily disperse viable organisms globally, where they are incorporated into pre-existing complex communities of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Herbold, Craig W.
Lee, Charles Kai-Wu
McDonald, Ian R.
Cary, S. Craig
author_facet Herbold, Craig W.
Lee, Charles Kai-Wu
McDonald, Ian R.
Cary, S. Craig
author_sort Herbold, Craig W.
title Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
title_short Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
title_full Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
title_fullStr Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
title_full_unstemmed Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica
title_sort evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of antarctica
publisher NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
publishDate 2014
url https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9399
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875
op_coverage England
long_lat ENVELOPE(167.167,167.167,-77.533,-77.533)
geographic Mount Erebus
Victoria Land
geographic_facet Mount Erebus
Victoria Land
genre Antarc*
Antarctica
Victoria Land
genre_facet Antarc*
Antarctica
Victoria Land
op_relation NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Herbold, C. W., Lee, C. K.-W., McDonald, I. R., & Cary, S. C. (2014). Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica. NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 5. http://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875
2041-1723
https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9399
doi:10.1038/ncomms4875
op_rights © 2014 Nature Publishing Group.This is an author's accepted version of an article published in Nature Communications.
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms4875
container_title Nature Communications
container_volume 5
container_issue 1
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