Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) Accretion Ice Contains a Diverse Set of Sequences from Aquatic, Marine and Sediment-Inhabiting Bacteria and Eukarya

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) Accretion Ice Contains a Diverse Set of Sequences from Aquatic, Marine and Sediment-Inhabiting Bacteria and Eukarya Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) Accretion Ice Contains a Diverse Set of Sequences from Aquatic, Marine and Sediment-Inhabiting Bacteria and Eukarya Yury M. Shtarkman., Zeynep A. Koc¸er.¤a, Robyn Edgar, Ram S. Veerapaneni¤b, Tom D’Elia¤c, Paul F. Morris, Scott O. Rogers* Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, United States of America Abstract Lake Vostok, the 7th largest (by volume) and 4th deepest lake on Earth, is covered by more than 3,700 m of ice, making it the largest subglacial lake known. The combination of cold, heat (from possible hydrothermal activity), pressure (from the overriding glacier), limited nutrients and complete darkness presents extreme challenges to life. Here, we report metagenomic/metatranscriptomic sequence analyses from four accretion ice sections from the Vostok 5G ice core. Two sections accreted in the vicinity of an embayment on the southwestern end of the lake, and the other two represented part of the southern main basin. We obtained 3,507 unique gene sequences from concentrates of 500 ml of 0.22 mm-filtered accretion ice meltwater. Taxonomic classifications (to genus and/or species) were possible for 1,623 of the sequences. Species determinations in combination with mRNA gene sequence results allowed deduction of the metabolic pathways represented in the accretion ice and, by extension, in the lake. Approximately 94% of the sequences were from Bacteria and 6% were from Eukarya. Only two sequences were from Archaea. In general, the taxa were similar to organisms previously described from lakes, brackish water, marine environments, soil, glaciers, ice, lake sediments, deep-sea sediments, deep-sea thermal vents, animals and plants. Sequences from aerobic, anaerobic, psychrophilic, thermophilic, halophilic, alkaliphilic, acidophilic, desiccation-resistant, autotrophic and heterotrophic organisms were present, including a number from multicellular eukaryotes. Citation: Shtarkman YM, Koc¸er ZA, Edgar R, Veerapaneni RS, D’Elia T, et al. (2013) Subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) Accretion Ice Contains a Diverse Set of Sequences from Aquatic, Marine and Sediment-Inhabiting Bacteria and Eukarya. PLoS ONE 8(7): e67221. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067221 Editor: Michael Watson, The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom Received September 17, 2012; Accepted May 20, 2013; Published July 3, 2013 Copyright: ß 2013 Shtarkman et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: The project was partially funded by the National Science Foundation (ANT 0536870) and Bowling Green State University. RE was supported in part by National Science Foundation 0131969 and United States Department of Agriculture NIFA_2011-68004-30104. The 454 sequencing services were supplied by 454 Life Sciences as part of a test for their 454 GS junior pyrosequencing system. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: [email protected] . These authors contributed equally to this work. ¤a Current address: Department of Infectious Diseases, Division of Virology, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, United States of America ¤b Current address: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Firelands Campus, Huron, Ohio, United States of America ¤c Current address: Biological Sciences, Indian River State College, Fort Pierce, Florida, United States of America Introduction fewer mineral inclusions, as well as lower concentrations of ions, organic carbon, and biomass [8], [10], [11]. This relatively clear Lake Vostok is the largest of nearly 400 subglacial lakes that ice is known as ‘‘type II’’ (or type 2) accretion ice. have been found in Antarctica [1–5], at least some of which are Several studies have described the biotic and abiotic compo- connected by subglacial rivers and streams [6]. As the overriding nents from Lake Vostok accretion ice core sections [8], [12–19]. 21 4 km-thick glacier moves across Lake Vostok at a rate of 3 m yr , Mean cell concentrations in the accretion ice ranged from ,1to lake water freezes (i.e., accretes) to the bottom of the glacier several hundred cells ml21. In most studies, the highest creating a lake-water record that is a linear and temporal concentrations of cells and highest sequence diversities were representation of the surface contents of the lake [7], [8]. At the reported in accretion ice from within or near the embayment in Vostok 5G ice core drill site on the far side of the lake (relative to the southwest corner of the lake near the entry point of the glacier. the glacier entry site), the meteoric ice is 3538 m thick, and the Additionally, we and others demonstrated that the concentrations accretion ice is more than 231 m thick [9]. At that location, the of total cells and viable cells were higher in the accretion ice than glacier has passed over an embayment, near a peninsula/ridge, in the meteoric ice above [12], [14–16]. In the same studies, we and then over part of the southern main lake basin [2], [8]. Ice cultivated, sequenced (rDNA regions) and identified 18 unique that accreted in the vicinity of the embayment has relatively high isolates of Bacteria and 31 unique isolates of Fungi from the same concentrations of ions, organic carbon, biomass and mineral Lake Vostok accretion ice core sections. All were phylogenetically inclusions (termed ‘‘type I’’ – or type 1 - accretion ice) [8], [10], closest to species from aquatic, lake/ocean sediment, cold, polar [11]. Over the majority of the lake, the accretion ice contains far and/or deep-sea environments. The compilation of results suggests PLOS ONE | www.plosone.org 1 July 2013 | Volume 8 | Issue 7 | e67221 Lake Vostok Metagenomics that organisms are living and reproducing in Lake Vostok. For the strand synthesis reaction consisted of the RNA and hexamer present metagenomic/metatranscriptomic study, we examined primers (above) in 50 mM Tris-HCl [pH 8.3], 75 mM KCl, two ice core sections that accreted in the vicinity of the 3 mM MgCl2, 10 mM DTT (dithiothreitol), 500 mM of each embayment (at depths 3563 and 3585 m), and two ice core dNTP (dATP, dCTP, dGTP, and dTTP), in a 20 ml volume. After sections that accreted over the southern main lake basin (at 3606 mixing, 200 U of SuperScriptH II RT (reverse transcriptase) was and 3621 m). The results of this research provide a detailed view added and mixed. This was incubated at 37uC for 1 h, and then of the potential life in Lake Vostok. placed on ice. The second strand synthesis reaction consisted of the first strand synthesis reaction in the following solution: 25 mM Materials and Methods Tris-HCl [pH 7.5], 100 mM KCl, 5 mM MgCl2,10mM + (NH4)2SO4, 0.15 mM ß-NAD , 250 mM each dNTP, 10 U The ice core sections were selected from the USGS NICL DNA ligase, 4 U DNA pol I, 2 U RNase H and 1.2 mM DTT, (United States Geological Survey, National Ice Core Laboratory, in a total volume of 150 ml. The solution was mixed and incubated Denver, CO), and were shipped frozen to our laboratory. Sample at 16uC for 2 h, then placed on ice. Next, 10 U of T4 DNA V5 consisted of Vostok 5G core sections at 3563 and 3585 m (type polymerase was added, and the reaction mix was incubated at I ice), corresponding to ice that accreted in the vicinity of the 16uC for 5 min, and then was stopped by the addition of EDTA to embayment. Sample V6 included core sections 3606 and 3621 m a final concentration of 30 mM. Then, 150 ml of chloroform/ (type II ice), corresponding to ice that accreted over a portion of isoamyl alcohol (24:1) was added and the contents of the tubes the southern main basin of Lake Vostok. Each core section was were mixed vigorously to form an emulsion. After 2 min of surface sterilized using a method that had been previously centrifugation at 16,0006g, the aqueous layer was transferred into developed, tested, described and utilized [14], [15], [20], [21]. a new tube and the nucleic acids were precipitated with 0.5 M Briefly, quartered ice core sections, 6–16 cm in length (total NaCl and cold 80% ethanol. The nucleic acids were precipitated volume approximately 125 ml), were immersed in a 5.25% sodium at 220uC for 5 min, followed by centrifugation (at 16,0006g) for hypochlorite solution (pre-chilled to 4uC for at least 2 h) for 10 s 20 min. The supernatant was decanted and the pellets were dried followed by three rinses with 800 ml of sterile water (4uC, under vacuum for 15 min. Each contained both DNA (represent- 18.2 MV, ,1 ppb total organic carbon, autoclaved). The sections ing the metagenomic portion) and cDNA (representing the were then melted in sterile funnels and meltwater was collected in metatranscriptomic portion). Both were used to assure a sufficient 50 ml aliquots. Each aliquot comprised a ‘‘shell’’ of meltwater mass of nucleic acids for pyrosequencing. corresponding to the outer portion, and sequentially more interior portions of the ice core section. The meltwater was then frozen at Adapter Ligation and Chromatography 220uC. A total of 250 ml of meltwater was used for each sample Pellets from the previous step were rehydrated in 18 mlof (125 ml from each ice core section). The meltwater samples were DEPC-treated water. Then, EcoRI (NotI) adapters were ligated to filtered sequentially through 1.2, 0.45 and 0.22 mm Durapore each end of the cDNA and DNA in the sample in order to provide filters (Millipore, Billerica, MA).
Recommended publications
  • (Antarctica) Glacial, Basal, and Accretion Ice
    CHARACTERIZATION OF ORGANISMS IN VOSTOK (ANTARCTICA) GLACIAL, BASAL, AND ACCRETION ICE Colby J. Gura A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE December 2019 Committee: Scott O. Rogers, Advisor Helen Michaels Paul Morris © 2019 Colby Gura All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Scott O. Rogers, Advisor Chapter 1: Lake Vostok is named for the nearby Vostok Station located at 78°28’S, 106°48’E and at an elevation of 3,488 m. The lake is covered by a glacier that is approximately 4 km thick and comprised of 4 different types of ice: meteoric, basal, type 1 accretion ice, and type 2 accretion ice. Six samples were derived from the glacial, basal, and accretion ice of the 5G ice core (depths of 2,149 m; 3,501 m; 3,520 m; 3,540 m; 3,569 m; and 3,585 m) and prepared through several processes. The RNA and DNA were extracted from ultracentrifugally concentrated meltwater samples. From the extracted RNA, cDNA was synthesized so the samples could be further manipulated. Both the cDNA and the DNA were amplified through polymerase chain reaction. Ion Torrent primers were attached to the DNA and cDNA and then prepared to be sequenced. Following sequencing the sequences were analyzed using BLAST. Python and Biopython were then used to collect more data and organize the data for manual curation and analysis. Chapter 2: As a result of the glacier and its geographic location, Lake Vostok is an extreme and unique environment that is often compared to Jupiter’s ice-covered moon, Europa.
    [Show full text]
  • Subglacial Lake Ellsworth CEE V2.Indd
    Proposed Exploration of Subglacial Lake Ellsworth Antarctica Draft Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation February 2011 1 The cover art was created by first, second, and third grade students at The Village School, a Montessori school located in Waldwick, New Jersey. Art instructor, Bob Fontaine asked his students to create an interpretation of the work being done on The Lake Ellsworth Project and to create over 200 of their own imaginary microbes. This art project was part of The Village School’s art curriculum that links art with ongoing cultural work. 2 Contents Non Technical Summary .................................................4 Personnel ............................................................................................ 26 Chapter 1: Introduction ...................................................6 Power generation and fuel calculations ....................................... 27 Chapter 2: Description of proposed activity..................7 Vehicles ................................................................................................ 28 Background and justification ..............................................................7 Water and waste ...............................................................................28 The site ...................................................................................................8 Communications ............................................................................... 28 Chapter 3: Baseline conditions of Lake Ellsworth .........9 Transport of equipment
    [Show full text]
  • Subglacial Meltwater Supported Aerobic Marine Habitats During Snowball Earth
    Subglacial meltwater supported aerobic marine habitats during Snowball Earth Maxwell A. Lechtea,b,1, Malcolm W. Wallacea, Ashleigh van Smeerdijk Hooda, Weiqiang Lic, Ganqing Jiangd, Galen P. Halversonb, Dan Asaele, Stephanie L. McColla, and Noah J. Planavskye aSchool of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, Australia; bDepartment of Earth and Planetary Science, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada H3A 0E8; cState Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research, School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, 210093 Nanjing, China; dDepartment of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV 89154; and eDepartment of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511 Edited by Paul F. Hoffman, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, and approved November 3, 2019 (received for review May 28, 2019) The Earth’s most severe ice ages interrupted a crucial interval in Cryogenian ice age. These marine chemical sediments are unique eukaryotic evolution with widespread ice coverage during the geochemical archives of synglacial ocean chemistry. To develop Cryogenian Period (720 to 635 Ma). Aerobic eukaryotes must have sur- a global picture of seawater redox state during extreme glaci- vived the “Snowball Earth” glaciations, requiring the persistence of ation, we studied 9 IF-bearing Sturtian glacial successions across 3 oxygenated marine habitats, yet evidence for these environments paleocontinents (Fig. 1): Congo (Chuos Formation, Namibia), is lacking. We examine iron formations within globally distributed Australia (Yudnamutana Subgroup), and Laurentia (Kingston Cryogenian glacial successions to reconstruct the redox state of the Peak Formation, United States). These IFs were selected for synglacial oceans. Iron isotope ratios and cerium anomalies from a analysis because they are well-preserved, and their depositional range of glaciomarine environments reveal pervasive anoxia in the environment can be reliably constrained.
    [Show full text]
  • Oral and Fecal Campylobacter Concisus Strains Perturb Barrier Function by Apoptosis Induction in HT-29/B6 Intestinal Epithelial Cells
    Oral and Fecal Campylobacter concisus Strains Perturb Barrier Function by Apoptosis Induction in HT-29/B6 Intestinal Epithelial Cells Hans Linde Nielsen1, Henrik Nielsen1, Tove Ejlertsen2, Jørgen Engberg3, Dorothee Gu¨ nzel4, Martin Zeitz5, Nina A. Hering5, Michael Fromm4,Jo¨ rg-Dieter Schulzke5*, Roland Bu¨ cker5 1 Department of Infectious Diseases, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark, 2 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark, 3 Department of Clinical Microbiology, Slagelse Hospital, Slagelse, Denmark, 4 Institute of Clinical Physiology, Charite´ Universita¨tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 5 Department of Gastroenterology, Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology, Division of General Medicine and Nutrition, Charite´ Universita¨tsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany Abstract Campylobacter concisus infections of the gastrointestinal tract can be accompanied by diarrhea and inflammation, whereas colonization of the human oral cavity might have a commensal nature. We focus on the pathophysiology of C. concisus and the effects of different clinical oral and fecal C. concisus strains on human HT-29/B6 colon cells. Six oral and eight fecal strains of C. concisus were isolated. Mucus-producing HT-29/B6 epithelial monolayers were infected with the C. concisus strains. Transepithelial electrical resistance (Rt) and tracer fluxes of different molecule size were measured in Ussing chambers. Tight junction (TJ) protein expression was determined by Western blotting, and subcellular TJ distribution was analyzed by confocal laser-scanning microscopy. Apoptosis induction was examined by TUNEL-staining and Western blot of caspase-3 activation. All strains invaded confluent HT-29/B6 cells and impaired epithelial barrier function, characterized by a time- and dose-dependent decrease in Rt either after infection from the apical side but even more from the basolateral compartment.
    [Show full text]
  • Subglacial Lake Vostok (SW-1845)
    Brent C. Christner and John C. Priscu SW-1845 Page 1 of 6 Subglacial Lake Vostok (SW-1845) Encyclopedia of Water – Reviewed and Accepted Entry Brent C. Christner† and John C. Priscu Montana State University Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science 334 Leon Johnson Hall Bozeman, MT USA 59717 †[email protected] †Phone: (406) 994-7225 or 2733 Entry Code: SW-1845 Enclosed: 2 printed copies 1 disk containing 2 copies of the entry, one copy in text format 1 disk containing referenced images 1 list of keywords Abstract Send to: Wiley Water Attn: Dr. Jay H. Lehr 6011 Houseman Road Ostrander, Ohio 43061 USA Brent C. Christner and John C. Priscu SW-1845 Page 2 of 6 When Captain Robert F. Scott first observed the McMurdo Dry Valleys in December 1903, he wrote, “We have seen no living thing, not even a moss or a lichen…it is certainly a valley of the dead”. Eight years later, Scott's team reached the South Pole and his entry referencing conditions on the polar plateau read “Great God! This is an awful place”. Scott was unaware that life surrounded him in the dry valleys, and he also could not have realized that microbial life could exist miles beneath his feet in an environment sealed from the atmosphere by Antarctica’s expansive continental ice sheet. The realization that there was life on the Antarctic continent, other than that associated with the marine system, did not come to light until the seminal investigations initiated by the International Geophysical Year in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
    [Show full text]
  • WISSARD at Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica: Scientific Operations and Initial Observations
    Annals of Glaciology 55(65) 2014 doi: 10.3189/2014AoG65A009 1 WISSARD at Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica: scientific operations and initial observations Slawek TULACZYK,1 Jill A. MIKUCKI,2 Matthew R. SIEGFRIED,3 John C. PRISCU,4 C. Grace BARCHECK,1 Lucas H. BEEM,1 Alberto BEHAR,5 Justin BURNETT,6 Brent C. CHRISTNER,7 Andrew T. FISHER,1 Helen A. FRICKER,3 Kenneth D. MANKOFF,1 Ross D. POWELL,8 Frank RACK,6 Daniel SAMPSON,1 Reed P. SCHERER,8 Susan Y. SCHWARTZ1 and THE WISSARD SCIENCE TEAM9 1Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA E-mail: [email protected] 2Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA 3Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA 4Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA 5Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA 6Antarctic Geological Drilling Science Management Office, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, USA 7Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA 8Geology and Environmental Geosciences, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA 9Full personnel list at http://www.wissard.org/about/wissard-personnel ABSTRACT. A clean hot-water drill was used to gain access to Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW) in late January 2013 as part of the Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling (WISSARD) project. Over 3 days, we deployed an array of scientific tools through the SLW borehole: a downhole camera, a conductivity±temperature±depth (CTD) probe, a Niskin water sampler, an in situ filtration unit, three different sediment corers, a geothermal probe and a geophysical sensor string.
    [Show full text]
  • Emergence of Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas Aeruginosa and Acinetobacter Baumannii Clinical Isolates Collected from Some Libyan Hospitals
    UNIVERSITE DE TUNIS EL MANAR Ecole Doctorale des Sciences Biologiques et AIX-MARSEILLE UNIVERSITE Ecole Doctorale des Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé THESE DE DOCTORAT EN COTUTELLE En Vue de l’obtention de grade de Docteur de l’Université de Tunis et d’Aix-Marseille Université Spécialités: Microbiologie / Pathologie humaine et maladies infectieuses Déterminisme du support moléculaire et de l’épidémiologie de la résistance aux ȕ-lactamines chez des bacilles à Gram négatif isolés dans des hôpitaux tunisiens et libyens Présentée par: Najla MATHLOUTHI Composition du Jury: Pr. Imane ZOUARI Université Tunis el Manar Président de Jury Dr. Marie KEMPF Université d’Angers Rapporteur Dr. Taoufik GHRAIRI Université Tunis el Manar Rapporteur Pr. Philippe COLSON Université d’Aix-Marseille Examinateur Pr. Mr. Jean-Marc ROLAIN Université d’Aix-Marseille Directeur de Thèse Dr. Chedly CHOUCHANI Université de Carthage Directeur de Thèse (8 Avril 2017) SOMMAIRE AVANT PROPOS ...................................................................... 3 RESUME .................................................................................... 4 SUMMARY ................................................................................ 5 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................... 7 CHAPITRE I: Revue: L’émergence et la dissémination des carbapénèmases produites par les bacilles à Gram négatifs dans les pays du bassin méditerranéen ............................................... 15 Article 1: Prevalence and emergence of
    [Show full text]
  • Grouping of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacterial Genera
    Appendix Grouping of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacterial Genera Grouping of the genera of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria is based on four phenotypic characters: Gram reaction (GP = positive; GN = negative), oxidase (+ or −), catalase (+ or −), and absence (n) or presence (p) of colony pigmentation. Groupings for most aerobic foodborne bacteria can be made within 24–48 hours after surface plating onto plate count agar with incubation at 30◦C. Foodborne and environmental bacterial genera are not known for the following two groups: GP 3 (Gr + Ox + Cat − n) and GP 4 (Gr + Ox + Cat − n). Among Gram negatives, the genera in GN 3 (Gr − Ox + Cat − n) and GN 4 (Gr − Ox + Cat − p) are rarely if ever reported in foods. Gram-Positive Groups GP1:Gr+Ox+Cat+n GP2:Gr+Ox+Cat+p Alicyclobacillus Arthrobacter Aneurinibacillus Bacillus (some) Arthrobacter Brachybacterium Bacillus (some) Brevibacillus Brachybacterium Brevibacterium (some) Brevibacillus Corynebacterium Brochothrix Deinococcus Corynebacterium (some) Dermacoccus Dermacoccus Exiguobacterium Geobacillus Halobacillus Gracilibacillus Janibacter Janibacter Kocuria Macrococcus Luteococcus Micrococcus Macrococcus Nesterenkonia Micrococcus Paenibacillus Nesterenkonia Propioniflex Salinococus Salibacillus Streptomyces (most) Sporosarcina Staphylococcus lentus, 747 748 Modern Food Microbiology sciuri, vitulus Stomatococcus Streptomyces (some) Terracoccus GP 5: Gr + Ox − Cat + n GP 6: Gr + Ox − Cat+p Anaerobacter Bacillus (some) Bacillus (most) Brachybacterium Brevibacterium (most) Brevibacterium
    [Show full text]
  • Microbial Community Structure of Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica
    fmicb-07-01457 September 22, 2016 Time: 12:35 # 1 ORIGINAL RESEARCH published: 22 September 2016 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01457 Microbial Community Structure of Subglacial Lake Whillans, West Antarctica Amanda M. Achberger1, Brent C. Christner1,2,3*, Alexander B. Michaud4†, John C. Priscu4, Mark L. Skidmore5, Trista J. Vick-Majors4 and the WISSARD Science Team‡ 1 Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA, 2 Department of Microbiology and Edited by: Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, 3 Biodiversity Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA, Michael Rappe, 4 Department of Land Resources and Environmental Science, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA, 5 Department University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA of Earth Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, USA Reviewed by: Brandi K. Reese, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi, Subglacial Lake Whillans (SLW) is located beneath ∼800 m of ice on the Whillans Ice USA Stream in West Antarctica and was sampled in January of 2013, providing the first Nathalie Pradel, Institute of Research opportunity to directly examine water and sediments from an Antarctic subglacial lake. for Development, France To minimize the introduction of surface contaminants to SLW during its exploration, an *Correspondence: access borehole was created using a microbiologically clean hot water drill designed to Brent C. Christner reduce the number and viability of microorganisms in the drilling water. Analysis of 16S xner@ufl.edu rRNA genes (rDNA) amplified from samples of the drilling and borehole water allowed †Present address: Alexander B. Michaud, an evaluation of the efficacy of this approach and enabled a confident assessment Center for Geomicrobiology, of the SLW ecosystem inhabitants.
    [Show full text]
  • THE LAKE VOSTOK Ferran Romero Blanch
    MICROBIOLOGY OF A SUBGLACIAL LAKE: THE LAKE VOSTOK Ferran Romero Blanch OBJECTIVES INTRODUCTION: Lake Vostok is the largest and deepest The aim of the present review is to describe subglacial body of water in Antarctica. It has the communities present in a subglacial lake an area of 14000Km2 and a volume of (the Lake Vostok). 5600Km3. Nowadays, it is accepted that it has been buried under glacial ice for 14-15 millions It is also objective of this review to describe of years (Figure 1). Discovered between 1950 the use of ice-binding proteins as a and 1960, it has been recently reported that it method to survive in extremely cold forms a complex ecosystem with both environments. prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms1,2. The living forms here have evolved to survive in an extremely oligotrophic, Main characteristics of Lake Vostok hyperbaric, cold and dark Temperature: -2°C environment. Pressure: 350atm (as it is covered by a 4- kilometer-thick layer of glacial ice) Nutrient availability: very slow Figure 1. Location of lake Vostok under Antarctic glacial ice1. Light: absent The ice above Lake Vostok freezes forming a 220m layer of accreted ice. It is generally accepted that this 220m layer of accreted ice reflects the contents into the lake and, because of this, it has been under study during the last 30 years. Ice accreting near the embayment has higher concentrations of ions, biomass and solid inclusions and it is known as type I accretion ice. The ice that forms over open water contains lower concentrations of biomass and ions and has been termed type II accretion ice3 (Figure 2).
    [Show full text]
  • Identification of Campylobacter Species
    UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations 2014 Identification of Campylobacter species FEBRUARY 24 - JANUARY 24 BETWEEN ON CONSULTED WAS DOCUMENT THIS - DRAFT Issued by the Standards Unit, Microbiology Services, PHE Bacteriology – Identification | ID 23 | Issue no: dh+ | Issue date: dd.mm.yy <tab+enter>| Page: 1 of 22 © Crown copyright 2013 Identification of Campylobacter species Acknowledgments UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations (SMIs) are developed under the auspices of Public Health England (PHE) working in partnership with the National Health Service (NHS), Public Health Wales and with the professional organisations whose logos are displayed below and listed on the website http://www.hpa.org.uk/SMI/Partnerships. SMIs are developed, reviewed and revised by various working groups which are overseen by a steering committee (see http://www.hpa.org.uk/SMI/WorkingGroups). The contributions of many individuals in clinical, specialist and reference laboratories2014 who have provided information and comments during the development of this document are acknowledged. We are grateful to the Medical Editors for editing the medical content. For further information please contact us at: FEBRUARY 24 Standards Unit - Microbiology Services Public Health England 61 Colindale Avenue London NW9 5EQ JANUARY E-mail: [email protected] 24 Website: http://www.hpa.org.uk/SMI UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations are produced in association with: BETWEEN ON CONSULTED WAS DOCUMENT THIS - DRAFT Bacteriology – Identification | ID 23 | Issue no: dh+ | Issue date: dd.mm.yy <tab+enter>| Page: 2 of 22 UK Standards for Microbiology Investigations | Issued by the Standards Unit, Public Health England Identification of Campylobacter species Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................................... 2 AMENDMENT TABLE ............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Campylobacter Concisus and Its Possible Role in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
    Campylobacter concisus and its possible role in inflammatory bowel disease Yazan Ismail A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Microbiology and Immunology) Supervisor: Dr. Li Zhang School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences Faculty of Science University of New South Wales Australia 2012 Originality statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Signed …………………………………………….............. Date …………………………………………….............. i Acknowledgements To Li, I thank god every day that I have chosen this research task and more importantly you as my supervisor. You were always there when I needed you and lifted me every time I felt down, I don’t regret any minute I spent under your supervision. Viki and Siew my beloved sisters can you believe it, at last it is my turn to write you in my acknowledgement. We had beautiful days and days that we hate to remember, but that very dark days made our relation more than just a friendship to remember, or words to describe it is something for eternity, I will never fulfil your favours.
    [Show full text]