Biodiversity of cryopegs in permafrost.
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.
Gilichinsky
David
D
Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290 Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russian Federation. gilichin@online.stack.net
Rivkina
Elizaveta
E
Bakermans
Corien
C
Shcherbakova
Viktoria
V
Petrovskaya
Lada
L
Ozerskaya
Svetlana
S
Ivanushkina
Natalia
N
Kochkina
Galina
G
Laurinavichuis
Kyastus
K
Pecheritsina
Svetlana
S
Fattakhova
Rushania
R
Tiedje
James M
JM
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
D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S