title: Biodiversity of cryopegs in permafrost.
abstract: This study describes the biodiversity of the indigenous microbial community in the sodium-chloride water brines (cryopegs) derived from ancient marine sediments and sandwiched within permafrost 100-120,000 years ago after the Arctic Ocean regression. Cryopegs remain liquid at the in situ temperature of -9 to -11 degrees C and make up the only habitat on the Earth that is characterized by permanently subzero temperatures, high salinity, and the absence of external influence during geological time. From these cryopegs, anaerobic and aerobic, spore-less and spore-forming, halotolerant and halophilic, psychrophilic and psychrotrophic bacteria, mycelial fungi and yeast were isolated and their activity was detected below 0 degrees C.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russian Federation. gilichin@online.stack.net
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gilichinsky
authors.forename: Elizaveta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rivkina
authors.forename: Corien
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bakermans
authors.forename: Viktoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shcherbakova
authors.forename: Lada
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petrovskaya
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ozerskaya
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ivanushkina
authors.forename: Galina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kochkina
authors.forename: Kyastus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Laurinavichuis
authors.forename: Svetlana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pecheritsina
authors.forename: Rushania
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fattakhova
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tiedje
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001483:Base Sequence; D044822:Biodiversity; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012800:Siberia; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S