Evidence of global-scale aeolian dispersal and endemism in isolated geothermal microbial communities of Antarctica.
New evidence in aerobiology challenges the assumption that geographical isolation is an effective barrier to microbial transport. However, given the uncertainty with which aerobiological organisms are recruited into existing communities, the ultimate impact of microbial dispersal is difficult to assess. Here we use molecular genetic approaches to examine microbial communities inhabiting fumarolic soils on Mount Erebus, the southernmost geothermal site on Earth, to evaluate the ecological significance of global-scale microbial dispersal. There, hot, fumarolic soils provide an effective environmental filter to test the viability of organisms that have been distributed via aeolian transport over geological time. We find that cosmopolitan thermophiles dominate the surface, whereas endemic Archaea and members of poorly understood Bacterial candidate divisions dominate the immediate subsurface. These results imply that aeolian processes readily disperse viable organisms globally, where they are incorporated into pre-existing complex communities of endemic and cosmopolitan taxa.
1] Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand [2] International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
Craig W
CW
Herbold
1] Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand [2] International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
Charles K
CK
Lee
1] Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand [2] International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand.
Ian R
IR
McDonald
1] Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand [2] International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Waikato, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand [3] College of Marine and Earth Studies, University of Delaware, Lewes, Delaware 19958, USA.
S Craig
SC
Cary
D000864:Antarctic Regions; D001105:Archaea; D001419:Bacteria; D001483:Base Sequence; D017753:Ecosystem; D020745:Genome, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics*; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012988:Soil Microbiology; D014919:Wind