Survival of antarctic soil metazoans at -80 degree C for six years.
A sample of the liverwort Cephaloziella varians was collected on 1 January 1999 at Rothera Point on the Wright Peninsula, Adelaide Island, western Antarctic Peninsula and was partially dried and then frozen at -80 degree C. The sample was rapidly defrosted to c. 10 degree C after six years and two months of storage at this temperature. Nematodes, tardigrades and a bdelloid rotifer present in the sample were found to have survived. Of the 159 nematodes recovered from the sample, 49 (31%) were alive: of the tardigrades and rotifers, two of 15 (13%) and one of 48 (2%) had survived, respectively. A Chi-square test showed that there was a significant association between nematode taxon and survival: a greater proportion of Coomansus gerlachei individuals were alive than of Rhyssocolpus paradoxus. A Chi-square test also showed that there was a significant association between phylum and survival: a significantly greater proportion of nematodes or tardigrades were alive than of bdelloid rotifers. We conclude that Antarctic soil metazoans are capable of surviving long-term exposure to low sub-zero temperatures and that there may be taxon-specific effects of freezing on survival.
Newsham
K K
KK
British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, Cambridge, UK. kne@bas.ac.uk
Maslen
N R
NR
McInnes
S J
SJ
D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001181:Arthropods / Q000502:physiology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003080:Cold Temperature; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006376:Helminths / Q000502:physiology*; D035926:Hepatophyta / Q000469:parasitology*; D009348:Nematoda / Q000502:physiology; D012403:Rotifera / Q000502:physiology; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology*; D013534:Survival; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
D012987:Soil