An ecological study on distribution of Antarctic bacterial communities was determined by 16S-based phylogenetic analyses of clone libraries derived from RNA and DNA extracted from two different marine areas and compared between each other. Superficial seawater samples were collected from four stations in Ross Sea, three of them located in Rod Bay and one in Evans Cove; for each station two clone libraries (16S rDNA and 16S rRNA) were prepared and evident divergences between DNA and RNA libraries of each site were obtained. Of all phylotypes 93.6% were found in RNA libraries; in contrast, only 31 phylotypes (70.5%) were retrieved from total microbial community (DNA libraries). DNA and RNA sequences related to gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes groups, typical for Antarctic sea-ice bacterial communities, were detected in analysed sites. 16S rDNA and rRNA libraries derived from the two different areas were enriched by picophytoplanktonic 16S sequences of plastid and mitochondrion origins, reflecting that the algal blooms occurred during sampling (Antarctic summer 2003). The finding in Rod Bay libraries of high percentage of DNA clones apparently affiliated with beta-Proteobacteria typical for activated sludges and well water could be explained by the presence of a sewage depuration system at this site. Obtained results clearly demonstrate that combination of 16S rDNA and 16S rRNA gene sequencing is preferred approach to have a more reliable vision on the composition of microbial communities.

Interest in brines in extreme and cold environments has recently increased after they have been found on Mars. Those brines can be potential new subsurface habitats for peculiar ecosystems. In the McMurdo Dry Valleys of the Antarctic, the best analogue for Mars conditions, only a few cases of brines have been identified in some perennially frozen lakes and in one case in an underground aquifer. Here, we present the occurrence of pressurized brines in a shallow perennially ice-covered lake south of 70°S in an ice-free area of Victoria Land, Antarctica. For the first time, we also imaged, by means of ground penetrating radar data, the existence of a pingo-like-feature (PLF) formed by the extrusion of brines, which has also been confirmed by borehole evidence. Those brines are fed by an underground talik external to the lake basin, enhancing the possibility of unexploited ecosystems that could find an analogue in Martian environments.

The EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive 2008/56/EC (MSFD) defines a framework for Community actions in the field of marine environmental policy in order to achieve and/or maintain the Good Environmental Status (GES) of the European seas by 2020. Microbial assemblages (from viruses to microbial-sized metazoa) provide a major contribution to global biodiversity and play a crucial role in the functioning of marine ecosystems, but are largely ignored by the MSFD. Prokaryotes are only seen as "microbial pathogens," without defining their role in GES indicators. However, structural or functional prokaryotic variables (abundance, biodiversity and metabolism) can be easily incorporated into several MSFD descriptors (i.e. D1. biodiversity, D4. food webs, D5. eutrophication, D8. contaminants and D9. contaminants in seafood) with beneficial effects. This review provides a critical analysis of the current MSFD descriptors and illustrates the reliability and advantages of the potential incorporation of some prokaryotic variables within the set of indicators of marine environmental quality. Following a cost/benefit analysis against scientific and economic criteria, we conclude that marine microbial components, and particularly prokaryotes, are highly effective for detecting the effects of anthropogenic pressures on marine environments and for assessing changes in the environmental health status. Thus, we recommend the inclusion of these components in future implementations of the MSFD.

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[1] Dissolved and particulate organic carbon, bacterial biomass, microbial enzymatic activities (EEA: leucine aminopeptidase, b-glucosidase, and alkaline phosphatase), bacterial production, respiration rates, and bacterial growth efficiency were determined in 10 stations of the Ionian Sea (winter 1998-1999) with the aim of characterizing the recycling of biogenic carbon and phosphorus in the different water masses, previously identified on the basis of their hydrographical properties. All microbial activities decreased markedly with depth, with a sharp increase in the benthic boundary layer, where potential remineralization rates of phosphorus up to 1.03 mg PÁdm À3 d À1 and bacterial carbon production of 0.078 mg CÁdm À3 d À1 were recorded. Those rates were close to the surface ones; the bacterial growth efficiency was also around 20%, similar to the surface value, sustaining the microbial food chain at the bottom. The daily hydrolysis of the organic carbon pool estimated by EEA varied from 0.67% (Ionian Surface Water) to 0.02% (Deep Water). Alkaline phosphatase activity was generally low in the intermediate and deep layers, in relation to the higher inorganic P content. The last facts support the hypothesis that deep waters of Ionian Sea, and in general of the entire Mediterranean basin, because of their young age, carry a larger amount of labile dissolved organic carbon, which reduces the need for a high recycling activity by bacterial community. As a matter of fact, a relatively higher activity per cell in carbon production rates was found in the deep layer where a large volume of the very recently formed Cretan Sea Outflow Water was present.

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