Microbial activity and diversity during extreme freeze–thaw cycles in periglacial soils, 5400 m elevation, Cordillera Vilcanota, Perú

Schmidt, Steven K.; Nemergut, Diana R.; Miller, Amy E.; Freeman, Kristen R.; King, Andrew J.; Seimon, Anton

doi:10.1007/s00792-009-0268-9

Cited by 69 publications

(54 citation statements)

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“…The experiment shown in Figure 4 was done in low volumes of growth media so that they froze every night and completely melted every day. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of the growth of any microbe during extreme freeze-thaw cycles, although activity of microbes during such cycles has long been known (reviewed in Schmidt et al 2009a). The ability to survive and thrive within a very broad temperature range may be a characteristic widespread within the Tremellomycetes; even pathogenic Cryptococcus gatti and C. neoformans exhibit broad tolerance to a range of temperatures (Nichols et al 2007, Garcia-Solache and Casadevall 2010), but have not been shown to be able to grow at subfreezing or fluctuating temperatures like members of the genus Naganishia .…”

Section: Ecological Tolerances Of Naganishiamentioning

confidence: 86%

ANaganishiain high places: functioning populations or dormant cells from the atmosphere?

et al. 2017

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Here, we review the current state of knowledge concerning high-elevation members of the extremophilic Cryptococcus albidus clade (now classified as the genus Naganishia). These fungi dominate eukaryotic microbial communities across the highest elevation, soil-like material (tephra) on volcanoes such as Llullaillaco, Socompa, and Saírecabur in the Atacama region of Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. Recent studies indicate that Naganishia species are among the most resistant organisms to UV radiation, and a strain of N. friedmannii from Volcán Llullaillaco is the first organism that is known to grow during the extreme, diurnal freeze-thaw cycles that occur on a continuous basis at elevations above 6000 m.a.s.l. in the Atacama region. These and other extremophilic traits discussed in this review may serve a dual purpose of allowing Naganishia species to survive long-distance transport through the atmosphere and to survive the extreme conditions found at high elevations. Current evidence indicates that there are frequent dispersal events between high-elevation volcanoes of Atacama region and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica via “Rossby Wave” merging of the polar and sub-tropical jet streams. This dispersal hypothesis needs further verification, as does the hypothesis that Naganishia species are flexible “opportunitrophs” that can grow during rare periods of water (from melting snow) and nutrient availability (from Aeolian inputs) in one of the most extreme terrestrial habitats on Earth.

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Section: Ecological Tolerances Of Naganishiamentioning

confidence: 86%

ANaganishiain high places: functioning populations or dormant cells from the atmosphere?

et al. 2017

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“…In the Sierra Nevada Mountains, USA, Sickman et al (2003) and earlier studies by Brooks et al (1996Brooks et al ( , 1997 in the Colorado Front Range of the Rocky Mountains provide strong evidence that microbiological processes may also explain the observed increased N export from high-elevation catchments. Surprisingly, Schmidt et al (2009) showed that significant nitrification occurs in recently deglaciated soils even on days when the soil temperature (at 5 cm depth) ranged from −10 • C at night to +30 • C during the day. Highelevation areas with little or no developed soils have shown large amounts of microbial activity (King et al, 2008;Nemergut et al, 2007), within a few years of deglaciation in some cases .…”

Section: N Mladenov Et Al: Atmospheric Deposition As a Source Of Camentioning

confidence: 97%

Atmospheric deposition as a source of carbon and nutrients to an alpine catchment of the Colorado Rocky Mountains

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Many alpine areas are experiencing deglaciation, biogeochemical changes driven by temperature rise, and changes in atmospheric deposition. There is mounting evidence that the water quality of alpine streams may be related to these changes, including rising atmospheric deposition of carbon (C) and nutrients. Given that barren alpine soils can be severely C limited, atmospheric deposition sources may be an important source of C and nutrients for these environments. We evaluated the magnitude of atmospheric deposition of C and nutrients to an alpine site, the Green Lake 4 catchment in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Using a long-term dataset (2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010) of weekly atmospheric wet deposition and snowpack chemistry, we found that volume weighted mean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations were 1.12 ± 0.19 mg l −1 , and weekly concentrations reached peaks as high at 6-10 mg l −1 every summer. Total dissolved nitrogen concentration also peaked in the summer, whereas total dissolved phosphorus and calcium concentrations were highest in the spring. To investigate potential sources of C in atmospheric deposition, we evaluated the chemical quality of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and relationships between DOM and other solutes in wet deposition. Relationships between DOC concentration, fluorescence, and nitrate and sulfate concentrations suggest that pollutants from nearby urban and agricultural sources and organic aerosols derived from sub-alpine vegetation may influence high summer DOC wet deposition concentrations. Interestingly, high DOC concentrations were also recorded during "dust-in-snow" events in the spring, which may reflect an association of DOM with dust. Detailed chemical and spectroscopic analyses conducted for samples collected in 2010 revealed that the DOM in many late spring and summer samples was less aromatic and polydisperse and of lower molecular weight than that of winter and fall samples. Our C budget estimates for the Green Lake 4 catchment illustrated that wet deposition (9.9 kg C ha −1 yr −1 ) and dry deposition (6.9 kg C ha −1 yr −1 ) were a combined input of approximately 17 kg C ha −1 yr −1 , which could be as high as 24 kg C ha −1 yr −1 in high dust years. This atmospheric C input approached the C input from microbial autotrophic production in barren soils. Atmospheric wet and dry deposition also contributed 4.3 kg N ha −1 yr −1 , 0.15 kg P ha −1 yr −1 , and 2.7 kg Ca 2+ ha −1 yr −1 to this alpine catchment.

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“…Both the North Pole and South Pole were reached four decades before the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, was climbed in 1953. The highest soil ecosystems on Earth are characterized by low oxygen pressure, low levels of available water, high levels of radiation and extreme temperature cycling across the freezing point [2,4]. These physical extremes in turn lead high-elevation soils and sediments to be low in nutrients and ostensibly devoid of measurable life.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These physical extremes in turn lead high-elevation soils and sediments to be low in nutrients and ostensibly devoid of measurable life. However, recent work in the high Andes has shown greater than expected microbial biomass and biogeochemical cycling of nutrients even in undeveloped soils just below the permanent ice line [4,5]; but almost nothing is known about the responsible organisms or their global biogeographic distribution, especially in the highest mountains on Earth, the Himalayas.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, recent work has shown that photosynthetic microbes are abundant in similar barren and dry areas of the high Andes [4] and the Dry Valleys of Antarctica [7][8][9]. To date, no molecular work has been done to quantify or identify microbial phototrophs in barren, high-elevation areas of the Himalayas, although algae have been cultured from such soils [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phylogeography of microbial phototrophs in the dry valleys of the high Himalayas and Antarctica

et al. 2010

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High-elevation valleys in dry areas of the Himalayas are among the most extreme, yet least explored environments on Earth. These barren, rocky valleys are subjected to year-round temperature fluctuations across the freezing point and very low availability of water and nutrients, causing previous workers to hypothesize that no photoautotrophic life (primary producers) exists in these locations. However, there has been no work using modern biogeochemical or culture-independent molecular methods to test the hypothesis that photoautotrophs are absent from high Himalayan soil systems. Here, we show that although microbial biomass levels are as low as those of the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, there are abundant microbial photoautotrophs, displaying unexpected phylogenetic diversity, in barren soils from just below the permanent ice line of the central Himalayas. Furthermore, we discovered that one of the dominant algal clades from the high Himalayas also contains the dominant algae in culture-independent surveys of both soil and ice samples from the Dry Valleys of Antarctica, revealing an unexpected link between these environmentally similar but geographically very distant systems. Phylogenetic and biogeographic analyses demonstrated that although this algal clade is globally distributed to other high-altitude and high-latitude soils, it shows significant genetic isolation by geographical distance patterns, indicating local adaptation and perhaps speciation in each region. Our results are the first to demonstrate the remarkable similarities of microbial life of arid soils of Antarctica and the high Himalayas. Our findings are a starting point for future comparative studies of the dry valleys of the Himalayas and Antarctica that will yield new insights into the cold and dry limits to life on Earth.

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Microbial activity and diversity during extreme freeze–thaw cycles in periglacial soils, 5400 m elevation, Cordillera Vilcanota, Perú

Cited by 69 publications

References 65 publications

ANaganishiain high places: functioning populations or dormant cells from the atmosphere?

ANaganishiain high places: functioning populations or dormant cells from the atmosphere?

Atmospheric deposition as a source of carbon and nutrients to an alpine catchment of the Colorado Rocky Mountains

Phylogeography of microbial phototrophs in the dry valleys of the high Himalayas and Antarctica

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