Distinctive microbial communities in subzero hypersaline brines from Arctic coastal sea ice and rarely sampled cryopegs.

ABSTRACT: Hypersaline aqueous environments at subzero temperatures are known to be inhabited by microorganisms, yet information on community structure in subzero brines is very limited. Near Utqiaġvik, Alaska, we sampled subzero brines (-6°C, 115-140 ppt) from cryopegs, i.e. unfrozen sediments within permafrost that contain relic (late Pleistocene) seawater brine, as well as nearby sea-ice brines to examine microbial community composition and diversity using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. We also quantified the communities microscopically and assessed environmental parameters as possible determinants of community structure. The cryopeg brines harbored surprisingly dense bacterial communities (up to 108 cells mL-1) and millimolar levels of dissolved and particulate organic matter, extracellular p

SUBMITTER: Cooper ZS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6859516 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature