Antarctic ice-free terrestrial microbial functional redundancy in core ecological functions and microhabitat-specific microbial taxa and adaptive strategy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although ice-free terrestrial ecosystems in Antarctica cover only limited areas, they harbor diverse and metabolically active microbial communities. These ecosystems encompass distinct microhabitats such as mosses, lichens, and soils, each offering unique ecological niches. However, how different microbial taxa respond to microhabitat heterogeneity, ecological strategies such as functional redundancy and specialization contribute to adaptation in extreme environments remains underexplored. To address these questions, we employed high-throughput 16 S rRNA gene and ITS sequencing in combination with GeoChip-based functional gene profiling to assess the structure and functional potential of microbial communities across moss, lichen and soil microhabitats in Antarctic ice-fr

SUBMITTER: Zhang M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12166587 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature