A taxon-wise insight into rock weathering and nitrogen fixation functional profiles of proglacial systems

The Arctic environment is particularly affected by global warming, and a clear trend of the ice retreat is observed worldwide. In proglacial systems, the newly exposed terrain represents different environmental and nutrient conditions compared to later soil stages. Therefore, proglacial systems show several environmental gradients along the soil succession where microorganisms are active protagonists of the soil and carbon pool formation through nitrogen fixation and rock weathering. We studied the microbial succession of three Arctic proglacial systems located in Svalbard (Midtre Lovénbreen), Sweden (Storglaciären), and Greenland (foreland close to Kangerlussuaq). We analyzed 65 whole shotgun metagenomic soil samples for a total of more than 400 Gb of sequencing data. Microbial succession showed common trends typical of proglacial systems with increasing diversity observed along the forefield chronosequence. Microbial trends were explained by the distance from the ice edge in the Midtre Lovénbreen and Storglaciären forefields and by total nitrogen (TN) and total organic carbon (TOC) in the Greenland proglacial system. Furthermore, we focused specifically on genes associated with nitrogen fixation and biotic rock weathering processes, such as nitrogenase genes, obcA genes, and genes involved in cyanide and siderophore synthesis and transport. Whereas we confirmed the presence of these genes in known nitrogen-fixing and/or rock weathering organisms (e.g., Nostoc, Burkholderia), in this study, we also detected organisms that, even if often found in soil and proglacial systems, have never been related to nitrogen-fixing or rock weathering processes before (e.g., Fimbriiglobus, Streptomyces). The different genera showed different gene trends within and among the studied systems, indicating a community constituted by a plurality of organisms involved in nitrogen fixation and biotic rock weathering, and where the latter were driven by different organisms at different soil succession stages

Bridging the divide:A model-data approach to Polar and Alpine microbiology

Advances in microbial ecology in the cryosphere continue to be driven by empirical approaches including field sampling and laboratory-based analyses. Although mathematical models are commonly used to investigate the physical dynamics of Polar and Alpine regions, they are rarely applied in microbial studies. Yet integrating modelling approaches with ongoing observational and laboratory-based work is ideally suited to Polar and Alpine microbial ecosystems given their harsh environmental and biogeochemical characteristics, simple trophic structures, distinct seasonality, often difficult accessibility, geographical expansiveness and susceptibility to accelerated climate changes. In this opinion paper, we explain how mathematical modelling ideally complements field and laboratory-based analyses. We thus argue that mathematical modelling is a powerful tool for the investigation of these extreme environments and that fully integrated, interdisciplinary model-data approaches could help the Polar and Alpine microbiology community address some of the great research challenges of the 21st century (e.g. assessing global significance and response to climate change). However, a better integration of field and laboratory work with model design and calibration/validation, as well as a stronger focus on quantitative information is required to advance models that can be used to make predictions and upscale processes and fluxes beyond what can be captured by observations alone.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Microbial diversity on Icelandic glaciers and ice caps

Algae are important primary colonizers of snow and glacial ice, but hitherto little is known about their ecology on Iceland’s glaciers and ice caps. Due do the close proximity of active volcanoes delivering large amounts of ash and dust, they are special ecosystems. This study provides the first investigation of the presence and diversity of microbial communities on all major Icelandic glaciers and ice caps over a three year period. Using high-throughput sequencing of the small subunit ribosomal RNA genes (16S and 18S), we assessed the snow community structure and complemented these analyses with a comprehensive suite of physical-, geo- and biochemical characterizations of the aqueous and solid components contained in snow and ice samples. Our data reveal that a limited number of snow algal taxa (Chloromonas polyptera, Raphidonema sempervirens and two uncultured Chlamydomonadaceae) support a rich community comprising of other micro-eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea. Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes were the dominant bacterial phyla. Archaea were also detected in sites where snow algae dominated and they mainly belong to the Nitrososphaerales, which are known as important ammonia oxidizers. Multivariate analyses indicated no relationships between nutrient data and microbial community structure. However, the aqueous geochemical simulations suggest that the microbial communities were not nutrient limited because of the equilibrium of snow with the nutrient-rich and fast dissolving volcanic ash. Increasing algal secondary carotenoid contents in the last stages of the melt seasons have previously been associated with a decrease in surface albedo, which in turn could potentially have an impact on the melt rates of Icelandic glaciers

Genomic mechanisms for cold tolerance and production of exopolysaccharides in the Arctic cyanobacterium Phormidesmis priestleyi BC1401

BACKGROUND: Cyanobacteria are major primary producers in extreme cold ecosystems. Many lineages of cyanobacteria thrive in these harsh environments, but it is not fully understood how they survive in these conditions and whether they have evolved specific mechanisms of cold adaptation. Phormidesmis priestleyi is a cyanobacterium found throughout the cold biosphere (Arctic, Antarctic and alpine habitats). Genome sequencing of P. priestleyi BC1401, an isolate from a cryoconite hole on the Greenland Ice Sheet, has allowed for the examination of genes involved in cold shock response and production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). EPSs likely enable cyanobacteria to buffer the effects of extreme cold and by identifying mechanisms for EPS production in P. priestleyi BC1401 this study lays the way for investigating transcription and regulation of EPS production in an ecologically important cold tolerant cyanobacterium. RESULTS: We sequenced the draft genome of P. priestleyi BC1401 and implemented a new de Bruijn graph visualisation approach combined with BLAST analysis to separate cyanobacterial contigs from a simple metagenome generated from non-axenic cultures. Comparison of known cold adaptation genes in P. priestleyi BC1401 with three relatives from other environments revealed no clear differences between lineages. Genes involved in EPS biosynthesis were identified from the Wzy- and ABC-dependent pathways. The numbers of genes involved in cell wall and membrane biogenesis in P. priestleyi BC1401 were typical relative to the genome size. A gene cluster implicated in biofilm formation was found homologous to the Wps system, although the intracellular signalling pathways by which this could be regulated remain unclear. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that the genomic characteristics and complement of known cold shock genes in P. priestleyi BC1401 are comparable to related lineages from a wide variety of habitats, although as yet uncharacterised cold shock genes in this organism may still exist. EPS production by P. priestleyi BC1401 likely contributes to its ability to survive efficiently in cold environments, yet this mechanism is widely distributed throughout the cyanobacterial phylum. Discovering how these EPS related mechanisms are regulated may help explain why P. priestleyi BC1401 is so successful in cold environments where related lineages are not. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-2846-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Multiple adaptations to polar and alpine environments within cyanobacteria:a phylogenomic and Bayesian approach

Cyanobacteria are major primary producers in the polar and alpine regions contributing significantly to nitrogen and carbon cycles in the cryosphere. Recent advancements in environmental sequencing techniques have revealed great molecular diversity of microorganisms in cold environments. However, there are no comprehensive phylogenetic analyses including the entire known diversity of cyanobacteria from these extreme environments. We present here a global phylogenetic analysis of cyanobacteria including an extensive dataset comprised of available SSU rRNA gene sequences of cyanobacteria from polar and high altitude environments. Furthermore, we used a large-scale multi-gene (135 proteins and two ribosomal RNAs) genome constraint including 57 cyanobacterial genomes. Our analyses produced the first phylogeny of cold cyanobacteria exhibiting robust deep branching relationships implementing a phylogenomic approach. We recovered several clades common to Arctic, Antarctic and alpine sites suggesting that the traits necessary for survival in the cold have been acquired by a range of different mechanisms in all major cyanobacteria lineages. Bayesian ancestral state reconstruction revealed that twenty clades each have common ancestors with high probabilities of being capable of surviving in cold environments

Analysis of virus genomes from glacial environments reveals novel virus groups with unusual host interactions

Microbial communities in glacial ecosystems are diverse, active, and subjected to strong viral pressures and infection rates. In this study we analyse putative virus genomes assembled from three dsDNA viromes from cryoconite hole ecosystems of Svalbard and the Greenland Ice Sheet to assess the potential hosts and functional role viruses play in these habitats. We assembled 208 million reads from the virus-size fraction and developed a procedure to select genuine virus scaffolds from cellular contamination. Our curated virus library contained 546 scaffolds up to 230 Kb in length, 54 of which were circular virus consensus genomes. Analysis of virus marker genes revealed a wide range of viruses had been assembled, including bacteriophages, cyanophages, nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses and a virophage, with putative hosts identified as Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Firmicutes, Gammaproteobacteria, eukaryotic algae and amoebae. Whole genome comparisons revealed the majority of circular genome scaffolds formed 12 novel groups, two of which contained multiple phage members with plasmid-like properties, including a group of phage-plasmids possessing plasmid-like partition genes and toxin-antitoxin addiction modules to ensure their replication and a satellite phage-plasmid group. Surprisingly we also assembled a phage that not only encoded plasmid partition genes, but a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas adaptive bacterial immune system. One of the spacers was an exact match for another phage in our virome, indicating that in a novel use of the system, the lysogen was potentially capable of conferring immunity on its bacterial host against other phage. Together these results suggest that highly novel and diverse groups of viruses are present in glacial environments, some of which utilise very unusual life strategies and genes to control their replication and maintain a long-term relationship with their hosts

Stable microbial community composition on the Greenland Ice Sheet

The first molecular-based studies of microbes in snow and on glaciers have only recently been performed on the vast Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). Aeolian microbial seeding is hypothesized to impact on glacier surface community compositions. Localized melting of glacier debris (cryoconite) into the surface ice forms cryoconite holes, which are considered ‘hot spots’ for microbial activity on glaciers. To date, few studies have attempted to assess the origin and evolution of cryoconite and cryoconite hole communities throughout a melt season. In this study, a range of experimental approaches was used for the first time to study the inputs, temporal and structural transformations of GrIS microbial communities over the course of a whole ablation season. Small amounts of aeolian (wind and snow) microbes were potentially seeding the stable communities that were already present on the glacier (composed mainly of Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Actinobacteria). However, the dominant bacterial taxa in the aeolian samples (Firmicutes) did not establish themselves in local glacier surface communities. Cryoconite and cryoconite hole community composition remained stable throughout the ablation season following the fast community turnover, which accompanied the initial snow melt. The presence of stable communities in cryoconite and cryoconite holes on the GrIS will allow future studies to assess glacier surface microbial diversity at individual study sites from sampling intervals of short duration only. Aeolian inputs also had significantly different organic δ13C values (-28.0 to -27.0‰) from the glacier surface values (-25.7 to -23.6‰), indicating that in situ microbial processes are important in fixing new organic matter and transforming aeolian organic carbon. The continuous productivity of stable communities over one melt season makes them important contributors to biogeochemical nutrient cycling on glaciers