Characterizing microbial diversity and the potential for metabolic function at -15 °c in the Basal ice of taylor glacier, antarctica.

ABSTRACT: Measurement of gases entrapped in clean ice from basal portions of the Taylor Glacier, Antarctica, revealed that CO2 ranged from 229 to 328 ppmv and O2 was near 20% of the gas volume. In contrast, vertically adjacent sections of the sediment laden basal ice contained much higher concentrations of CO2 (60,000 to 325,000 ppmv), whereas O2 represented 4 to 18% of the total gas volume. The deviation in gas composition from atmospheric values occurred concurrently with increased microbial cell concentrations in the basal ice profile, suggesting that in situ microbial processes (i.e., aerobic respiration) may have altered the entrapped gas composition. Molecular characterization of 16S rRNA genes amplified from samples of the basal ice indicated a low diversity of bacteria, and most of the seque

SUBMITTER: Doyle SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3960875 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature