title: Microbial populations in Antarctic permafrost: biodiversity, state, age, and implication for astrobiology.
abstract: Antarctic permafrost soils have not received as much geocryological and biological study as has been devoted to the ice sheet, though the permafrost is more stable and older and inhabited by more microbes. This makes these soils potentially more informative and a more significant microbial repository than ice sheets. Due to the stability of the subsurface physicochemical regime, Antarctic permafrost is not an extreme environment but a balanced natural one. Up to 10(4) viable cells/g, whose age presumably corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the sediments, have been isolated from Antarctic permafrost. Along with the microbes, metabolic by-products are preserved. This presumed natural cryopreservation makes it possible to observe what may be the oldest microbial communities on Earth. Here, we describe the Antarctic permafrost habitat and biodiversity and provide a model for martian ecosystems.
authors.affiliation: Institutes of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia. gilichin@online stack.net
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gilichinsky
authors.forename: G S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: E I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Friedmann
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: McKay
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sletten
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Rivkina
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Vishnivetskaya
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Erokhina
authors.forename: N E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Ivanushkina
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Kochkina
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Shcherbakova
authors.forename: V S
authors.initials: VS
authors.lastname: Soina
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Spirina
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Vorobyova
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Fyodorov-Davydov
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hallet
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ozerskaya
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Sorokovikov
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Laurinavichyus
authors.forename: A V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Shatilovich
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chanton
authors.forename: V E
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Ostroumov
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tiedje
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D044822:Biodiversity; D018559:Exobiology; D007053:Ice; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D007053:Ice; D014867:Water