title: Isolation of fungi from Lake Vostok accretion ice.
abstract: Here we report the characterization of fungi from 10 accretion ice sections (3300-5100 y old) as well as two deep glacial ice sections that are close to the bottom of the glacier (1,000,000-2,000,000 y old) from the Vostok, Antarctica, 5G ice core. Fungi were characterized by fluorescence microscopy culturing and sequence analyses of ribosomal DNA internal transcribed spacers. A total of 270 fungal colonies were cultured from the accretion ice of subglacial Lake Vostok and an additional 14 from the glacial ice immediately above the accretion ice. Mean concentrations were 0-4.42 cells mL(-1) ice meltwater of which 0-100% exhibited viability (as determined by fluorescence microscopy). Thirty-one unique fungal ribosomal DNA sequences (28 from accretion ice and three from glacial ice) were determined and compared to recent taxa. The results, plus tests for growth at low temperatures, indicated that Lake Vostok contains a mixture of heterotrophic psychrotolerant fungal species. This indicates that the lake is not sterile but contains a unique ecosystem.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio 43403, USA.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: D'Elia
authors.forename: Ram
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veerapaneni
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Theraisnathan
authors.forename: Scott O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Rogers
mesh_terms: D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001203:Ascomycota / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017753:Ecosystem; D025301:Hyphae / Q000166:cytology; D046448:Ice Cover / Q000382:microbiology*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010802:Phylogeny; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013172:Spores, Fungal / Q000166:cytology; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D021903:DNA, Ribosomal Spacer