Subsurface ice as a microbial habitat

Mader, Heidy M; Pettitt, Michala E.; Wadham, Jemma L.; Wolff, Eric W.; Parkes, Ronald John

doi:10.1130/g22096.1

Cited by 123 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Examples include aerobic respiration (e.g., CH 4 ϩ 2O 2 3 2CO 2 ϩ 2H 2 O), nitrogen fixation (N 2 ϩ 6H ϩ ϩ 6e Ϫ 3 2NH 3 ), and carbon monoxide oxidation (e.g., O 2 ϩ CO 3 CO 2 ), all of which involve small molecules with values of D not smaller than D(CO 2 ) (SI Table 1). N 2 , O 2 , CH 4 , and CO are relatively abundant in the atmosphere: 565 Ϯ 200 ppbV for CH 4 (39) and 100 Ϯ 50 ppbV for CO (40). All of them form clathrate hydrates with known phase diagrams, and their solubilities in ice as a function of temperature can be estimated from their dissociation pressures (41)(42)(43).…”

Section: Time For Replenishment Of Molecules Reacted During Metabolismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A methanogen in ice could thus be a sink for dissolved H 2 and CO 2 molecules and a source of CH 4 and H 2 O molecules. The CH 4 would be trapped in the ice but could diffuse short distances.…”

Section: Habitat 3: Interior Of An Ice Crystal Far From Veins and Gramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Sheridan et al (13) and Miteva et al (14) identified a rich variety of both aerobes and anaerobes at the same depth, 3,043 m, in a sample of GISP2 ice. Using scanning fluorimetry to scan GISP2 ice cores at the National Ice Core Laboratory (NICL), we recently found that anomalously high levels of both ␦ 18 O air (30) and CH 4 (31) at the same depth, 2,672 m, corresponded to excess microbial concentrations localized within a 1-cm 3 ice volume. ‡ We concluded that these gas anomalies are the waste products of both aerobic respiration and methanogenic metabolism within the same community.…”

Section: Need For a Third Microbial Habitat In Icementioning

confidence: 99%

“…To determine whether the reaction in 1 can be sustained in ice at the rate of 1,900 molecules per year per cell, we need to know the equilibrium concentrations of CO 2 and H 2 dissolved in ice and the diffusion coefficients of CO 2 , H 2 , CH 4 , and H 2 O in ice at Ϫ10°C. Later we will generalize the discussion to metabolism of cells of larger size, at other temperatures, for other redox reactions, including aerobes and anaerobes.…”

Section: Habitat 3: Interior Of An Ice Crystal Far From Veins and Gramentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mader et al (4) showed that both bacteria and fluorescent beads added to water used to make ice are rejected from the solid phase and incorporated into liquid veins, provided that they are small enough to fit, whereas beads larger than the vein diameter are frozen into solid ice.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diffusion-controlled metabolism for long-term survival of single isolated microorganisms trapped within ice crystals

Rohde

Price²

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Two known habitats for microbial metabolism in ice are surfaces of mineral grains and liquid veins along three-grain boundaries. We propose a third, more general, habitat in which a microbe frozen in ice can metabolize by redox reactions with dissolved small molecules such as CO 2 , O 2 , N 2 , CO, and CH 4 diffusing through the ice lattice. We show that there is an adequate supply of diffusing molecules throughout deep glacial ice to sustain metabolism for >10 5 yr. Using scanning fluorimetry to map proteins (a proxy for cells) and F420 (a proxy for methanogens) in ice cores, we find isolated spikes of fluorescence with intensity consistent with as few as one microbial cell in a volume of 0.16 μl with the protein mapper and in 1.9 μl with the methanogen mapper. With such precise localization, it should be possible to extract single cells for molecular identification.

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Section: Time For Replenishment Of Molecules Reacted During Metabolismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Habitat 3: Interior Of An Ice Crystal Far From Veins and Gramentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Need For a Third Microbial Habitat In Icementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Habitat 3: Interior Of An Ice Crystal Far From Veins and Gramentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Diffusion-controlled metabolism for long-term survival of single isolated microorganisms trapped within ice crystals

Rohde

Price²

2007

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Physicochemical properties of bottom ice from Dome Fuji, inland East Antarctica

et al. 2016

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The deepest ice in inland Antarctica is expected to preserve the oldest ice records and to potentially contain microorganisms. However, little is known about the physicochemical conditions in the deepest part of ice sheets. This study investigates the physicochemical properties of the bottom section (3000–3035 m) of the Dome Fuji inland ice core, which is located immediately above unfrozen bedrock. The ubiquitous presence of air hydrates and the water isotope composition of ice comparable to the upper main ice core show that the bottom ice is meteoric. However, ion concentrations exhibit abnormal drops at the greatest depths (approximately below 3033 m). In the same depth range, microscopic investigations reveal that considerable relocation of air hydrates and microinclusions (water‐soluble impurities) occurs, suggesting that the observed reduction in ion concentration results from the segregation of inclusions to ice grain boundaries and the subsequent discharge of chemicals through liquid‐water veins. Principal component analysis of ion data supports the meteoric‐ice hypothesis, suggesting that the bottom ice had similar original chemistry through all depths. Statistical analyses of chemical data suggest that the water‐soluble impurities attached to hydrates or dust (water‐insoluble), the ice‐soluble chemical species (such as chlorine), and solid particles are less affected by this chemical displacement phenomenon. It is also noteworthy that in the bottom ice, impurity chemicals, which are limiting nutrients for ice‐dwelling microorganisms, are concentrated largely to ice‐hydrate interfaces, where oxygen, another vital matter for aerobic microorganisms, is also enriched.

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Sea ice as a habitat for Bacteria, Archaea and viruses

Deming

Collins

2016

Sea Ice

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Subsurface ice as a microbial habitat

Cited by 123 publications

References 27 publications

Diffusion-controlled metabolism for long-term survival of single isolated microorganisms trapped within ice crystals

Diffusion-controlled metabolism for long-term survival of single isolated microorganisms trapped within ice crystals

Physicochemical properties of bottom ice from Dome Fuji, inland East Antarctica

Sea ice as a habitat for Bacteria, Archaea and viruses

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