Glacier forelands are excellent sites in which to study microbial succession because conditions change rapidly in the emerging soil. Development of the bacterial community was studied along two transects on lateral moraines of Ecology Glacier, King George Island, by culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches (denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis). Environmental conditions such as cryoturbation and soil composition affected both abundance and phylogenetic diversity of bacterial communities. Microbiocenosis structure along transect 1 (severe cryoturbation) differed markedly from that along transect 2 (minor cryoturbation). Soil physical and chemical factors changed along the chronosequence (time since exposure) and influenced the taxonomic diversity of cultivated bacteria, particularly along transect 2. Arthrobacter spp. played a pioneer role and were present in all soil samples, but were most abundant along transect 1. Cultivated bacteria isolated from transect 2 were taxonomically more diverse than those cultivated from transect 1; those from transect 1 tended to express a broader range of enzyme and assimilation activities. Our data suggest that cryoturbation is a major factor in controlling bacterial community development in postglacial soils, shed light on microbial succession in glacier forelands, and add a new parameter to models that describe succession phenomena.

Polaromonas is one of the most abundant genera found on glacier surfaces, yet its ecology remains poorly described. Investigations made to date point towards a uniform distribution of Polaromonas phylotypes across the globe. We compared 43 Polaromonas isolates obtained from surfaces of Arctic and Antarctic glaciers to address this issue. 16S rRNA gene sequences, intergenic transcribed spacers (ITS) and metabolic fingerprinting showed great differences between hemispheres but also between neighboring glaciers. Phylogenetic distance between Arctic and Antarctic isolates indicated separate species. The Arctic group clustered similarly, when constructing dendrograms based on 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequences, as well as metabolic traits. The Antarctic strains, although almost identical considering 16S rRNA genes, diverged into 2 groups based on the ITS sequences and metabolic traits, suggesting recent niche separation. Certain phenotypic traits pointed towards cell adaptation to specific conditions on a particular glacier, like varying pH levels. Collected data suggest, that seeding of glacial surfaces with Polaromonas cells transported by various means, is of greater efficiency on local than global scales. Selection mechanisms present of glacial surfaces reduce the deposited Polaromonas diversity, causing subsequent adaptation to prevailing environmental conditions. Furthermore, interactions with other supraglacial microbiota, like algae cells may drive postselectional niche separation and microevolution within the Polaromonas genus.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00792-016-0831-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Surface ice and cryoconite holes of two types of polythermal Svalbard Glaciers (Hans Glacier—grounded tidewater glacier and Werenskiold Glacier—land-based valley glacier) were investigated in terms of chemical composition, microbial abundance and diversity. Gathered data served to describe supraglacial habitats and to compare microbe–environment interactions on those different type glaciers. Hans Glacier samples displayed elevated nutrient levels (DOC, nitrogen and seston) compared to Werenskiold Glacier. Adjacent tundra formations, bird nesting sites and marine aerosol were candidates for allochtonic enrichment sources. Microbial numbers were comparable on both glaciers, with surface ice containing cells in the range of 104 mL−1 and cryoconite sediment 108 g−1 dry weight. Denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis band-based clustering revealed differences between glaciers in terms of dominant bacterial taxa structure. Microbial community on Werenskiold Glacier benefited from the snow-released substances. On Hans Glacier, this effect was not as pronounced, affecting mainly the photoautotrophs. Over-fertilization of Hans Glacier surface was proposed as the major factor, desensitizing the microbial community to the snow melt event. Nitrogen emerged as a limiting factor in surface ice habitats, especially to Eukaryotic algae.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00792-015-0764-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A b s t r a c t. The aim of the study was to examine the differences in microbial community structure as a result of agricultural practices. Sixteen samples of cultivated and the same number of non-cultivated soils were selected. Gel bands were identified using the GelCompar software to create the presence-absence matrix, where each band represented a bacterial operational taxonomic unit. The data were used for principal-component analysis and additionally, the ShannonWeaver index of general diversity, Simpson index of dominance and Simpson index of diversity were calculated. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles clearly indicated differentiation of tested samples into two clusters: cultivated and non-cultivated soils. Greater numbers of dominant operational taxonomic units (65) in non-cultivated soils were noted compared to cultivated soils (47 operational taxonomic units). This implies that there was a reduction of dominant bacterial operational taxonomic units by nearly 30% in cultivated soils. Simpson dominance index expressing the number of species weighted by their abundance amounted to 1.22 in cultivated soils, whereas a 3-fold higher value (3.38) was observed in non-cultivated soils. Land-use practices seemed to be a important factors affected on biodiversity, because more than soil type determined the clustering into groups.

Abstract:There are hardly any data concerning the vertical micro−distribution of protozoa in water column in cryoconite holes on the glacier surface. Such comparisons can provide in− sights into the ecology of protozoa. The present research was made on Ecology Glacier (South Shetland Islands, Antarctic); vertical microzonation of ciliates in relation to physical and chemical parameters in cryoconite holes was studied. The density and biomass of protozoans significantly differed between the studied stations (cryoconite holes), with the lowest num− bers in the surface water and the highest in the bottom water. The surface waters were domi− nated by mixotrophic and omnivorous taxa, whereas the deepest sampling level has shown the increase of the proportion of bacterivore species. Ordination analysis indicated that TN and P−PO 4 can strongly regulate the abundance and species composition of protozoa. The redun− dancy analyses (RDA) showed that the ciliate communities can be separated into two groups. The first group included species associated with surface water: Halteria grandinella and Codonella sp. The second group included species that are associated with bottom water: Prorodon sp., Holosticha pullaster, Stylonychia mytilus−complex and small scuticociliates.

No abstract

The diversity of polyhydroxyalkanoates-producing bacteria in freshwater reservoirs in the Ecology Glacier foreland, Antarctica, was examined by a cultivation-dependent method. Isolated strains were analyzed phylogenetically by 16S rRNA gene sequencing, and classified as members of Alpha-, Beta-, or Gammaproteobacteria classes. Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect PHA synthase genes. Potential polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) producers belonging mainly to Pseudomonas sp., and Janthinobacterium sp. were isolated from all five sampling sites, suggesting that PHA synthesis is a common bacterial feature at pioneer sites. All Pseudomonas strains had the genetic potential to synthesize medium-chain-length PHAs, whereas some isolated Janthinobacterium strains might produce short-chain-length PHAs or medium-chain-length PHAs. It is the first report revealing that Janthinobacterium species could have the potential to produce medium-chain-length PHAs.

The Svalbard archipelago (Spitsbergen Island) is the northernmost landmass in the European Arctic and has a variety of small- and medium-sized glaciers. The plasmidome of eleven psychrophilic strains of Variovorax spp. isolated from the ice surface of Hans and Werenskiold Glaciers of Spitsbergen Island, was defined. This analysis revealed the presence of six plasmids whose nucleotide sequences have been determined. Four of them, exhibiting high reciprocal sequence similarity, possess unique structures, since their genomes lack any recognized genes. These miniature replicons, not exceeding 1 kb in size, include pHW69V1 (746 bp), which is the smallest autonomous replicon so far identified in free-living bacteria. The miniature plasmids share no similarity with known sequences present in the databases. In silico and experimental analyses identified conserved DNA regions essential for the initiation of replication of these replicons.