title: Antarctic Dry Valley mineral soils contain unexpectedly high levels of microbial biomass.
abstract: We have applied bioluminescent ATP detection methods to microbial enumeration in Antarctic Dry Valley mineral soils, and validated our ATP data by two independent methods. We have demonstrated that ATP measurement is a valid means of determining microbial biomass in such sites, and that the desiccated surface mineral soils of the Antarctic Dry Valleys contain cell numbers over four orders of magnitude higher than previously suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University College London, London, UK. dcowan@uwc.ac.za
authors.forename: Don A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cowan
authors.forename: Nick J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Russell
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mamais
authors.forename: Devon M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sheppard
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000032:analysis; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D018533:Biomass; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D008903:Minerals; D011387:Prokaryotic Cells; D012988:Soil Microbiology
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D008903:Minerals; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate