title: Presence of Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus DNA in accretion ice in the subglacial Lake Vostok, Antarctica, assessed using rrs, cbb and hox.
abstract: The 3561 m Vostok ice core sample originating from the subglacial Lake Vostok accretion (frozen lake water) ice with sediment inclusions was thoroughly studied by various means to confirm the presence of the thermophile bacterium Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus reported earlier in the 3607 m accretion ice sample. PCR and molecular-phylogenetic analyses performed in two independent laboratories were made using different 16S rRNA gene (rrs) targeted primers. As a result, rrs-targeted PCR permitted to recover several very closely related clones with a small genetic distance to Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus (< 1%). In addition, RubisCO (cbbL or rbcL) and NiFe-Hydrogenase (hoxV or hupL) targeted PCR have also allowed to recover sequences highly related to Hydrogenophilus thermoluteolus. All these results point to the presence of thermophilic chemoautotrophic microorganisms in Lake Vostok accretion ice. They presumably originate from deep faults in the bedrock cavity containing the lake in which episodes of seismotectonic activity would release debris along with microbial cells.
authors.affiliation: UMR-CNRS 5557 Ecologie Microbienne, IFR41 Bio-Environnement et Santé, Université Lyon 1, 43 bd du 11 novembre 1918, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France.
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavire
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Normand
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Alekhina
authors.forename: Serguey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bulat
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Prieur
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Birrien
authors.forename: Pascale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fournier
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hänni
authors.forename: Jean-Robert
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Petit
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D043363:Hydrogenophilaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D007053:Ice / Q000032:analysis; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D007053:Ice; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S