Nutritional niches of potentially endemic, facultatively anaerobic heterotrophs from an isolated Antarctic terrestrial hydrothermal refugium elucidated through metagenomics.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Tramway Ridge, a geothermal Antarctic Specially Protected Area (elevation 3340 m) located near the summit of Mount Erebus, is home to a unique community composed of cosmopolitan surface-associated micro-organisms and abundant, poorly understood subsurface-associated microorganisms. Here, we use shotgun metagenomics to compare the functional capabilities of this community to those found elsewhere on Earth and to infer in situ diversity and metabolic capabilities of abundant subsurface taxa.

Results

We found that the functional potential in this community is most similar to that found in terrestrial hydrothermal environments (hot springs, sediments) and that the two dominant organisms in the subsurface carry high rates of in situ diversity which was taken as evidenc

SUBMITTER: Herbold CW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11657696 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature