Functional and Taxonomic Diversity of Anaerobes in Supraglacial Microbial Communities.

ABSTRACT: Cryoconite holes are small ponds present on the surface of most glaciers filled with meltwater and sediment at the bottom. Although they are characterized by extreme conditions, they host bacterial communities with high taxonomic and functional biodiversity. Despite that evidence for a potential niche for anaerobic microorganisms and anaerobic processes has recently emerged, the composition of the microbial communities of the cryoconite reported so far has not shown the relevant presence of anaerobic taxa. We hypothesize that this is due to the lower growth yield of anaerobes compared to aerobic microorganisms. In this work, we aim at evaluating whether the anaerobic bacterial community represents a relevant fraction of the biodiversity of the cryoconite and at describing its structure and

SUBMITTER: Pittino F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10100660 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature