Boy, J.

Friedl, T.

Laughinghouse IV, H.D.

Pessi, I.S.

Rybalka, N.

Wilmotte, A.

Open Marine Archive

235 
 
S07: Microbial communities & 'Meta-omics' 
Succession of microbial photoautotrophs along a soil 
chronosequence in maritime Antarctica 
Pessi Igor S.1, H. Dail Laughinghouse IV1-2-3, Nataliya Rybalka4, Thomas Friedl4, Jens Boy5 and Annick 
Wilmotte1 
1 INBIOS – Centre for Protein Engineering, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium 
E-mail: ispessi@ulg.ac.be  
2 Fort Lauderdale Research & Education Center, University of Florida/IFAS, Davie, Florida, USA 
3 Department of Botany, MRC-166, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, 
Washington, DC, USA 
4 Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany 
5 Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany 
 
The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced extensive regional warming since the 1950’s, which is 
reflected in accelerated rates of glacier retreat and ice shelf collapse in the region (Cook et al. 
2005). As a glacier retreats, it exposes new terrestrial habitats for the colonization of pioneering 
organisms. The study of plant succession in glacier forefields is at the core of ecology (Matthews 
1992), but very little is known regarding the primordial stages in which soil biomass and processes 
are dominated by microorganisms. Microbial phototrophs, such as cyanobacteria and green algae, 
are usually the first colonizers on exposed glacial deposits (Hodkinson et al. 2003; Kaštovská et al. 
2005). Here we investigate the structure of soil microalgal communities along the Meseta 
chronosequence (Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, maritime Antarctica), consisting of twelve 
sites encompassing 6,200 years of deglaciation (Boy et al. 2016). A total of 333,776 16S rRNA gene 
sequences were obtained by 454 pyrosequencing, which were clustered into 195 OTUs at 97.5% 
similarity. OTUs were assigned to Cyanobacteria (131 OTUs), Chlorophyta (35 OTUs), Stramenopiles 
(12 OTUs), Streptophyta (7 OTUs) and Rhodophyta (1 OTU). Total, cyanobacterial and plastid 
richness followed a polynomial distribution along the chronosequence (R2 = 0.72, p = 0.006). 
Community structure changed from a cyanobacteria- to a plastid-dominated state at about 4,500 
years BP, which was mirrored by exponential shifts in cyanobacteria and plastid relative abundances 
(R2 = 0.95, p < 0.001). Earlier communities (<4,500 years BP) were dominated by cyanobacterial 
OTUs related to Nodularia, Phormidium/Phormidesmis, Pseudanabaena and Chamaesiphon. Later 
communities (>4,500 years BP), on the other hand, were dominated by green algal OTUs related to 
Prasiolopsis, Stichococcus and Elliptochloris. These results show a consistent successional pattern of 
microbial photoautotrophs and emphasize the essential role of cyanobacteria as pioneers in 
recently deglaciated soils, where they contribute to the stabilization of the soil matrix and organic 
matter accumulation. 
 
References 
- Boy J., Godoy R., Shibistova O., Boy D., McCulloch R., de la Fuente A.A., Morales M.A., Mikutta R., 
Guggenberger G. 2016. Successional patterns along soil development gradients formed by glacier 
retreat in the Maritime Antarctic, King George Island. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 89:6. 
- Cook A.J., Fox A.J., Vaughan D.G., Ferrigno J.G. 2005. Retreating glacier fronts on the Antarctic 
Peninsula over the past half-century. Science 308:541–544. 
- Hodkinson I.D., Coulson S.J., Webb N.R. 2003. Community assembly along proglacial 
chronosequences in the high Arctic: vegetation and soil development in north-west Svalbard. 
Journal of Ecology 91:651–663. 
- Kaštovská K., Elster J., Stibal M., Šantrůčková H. 2005. Microbial assemblages in soil microbial 
succession after glacial retreat in Svalbard (High Arctic). Microbial Ecology 50:396–407. 
- Matthews J.A. 1992. The ecology of recently-deglaciated terrain: a geoecological approach to 
glacier forelands and primary succession. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK. 
  


Succession of microbial photoautotrophs along a soil chronosequence in maritime Antarctica

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Open Marine Archive