@article {4935,
	title = {Sentinel protist taxa of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Antarctica: A review},
	journal = {Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution},
	volume = {12},
	year = {2024},
	month = {03/2024},
	pages = {1323472},
	abstract = {<p>High-latitude meromictic lakes such as those in the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) harbor aquatic ecosystems dominated by the microbial loop. Within this habitat, which is limited year-round by light and nutrients, protists, or single celled eukaryotes, play outsized roles in the food web as the dominant primary producers and the apex predators. Thus, the MDV lake ecosystem represents an ideal system to study the role of sentinel protist taxa in carbon and nutrient cycling. The perennially ice-covered lakes are part of the McMurdo Long Term Ecological Research (McM LTER; mcmlter.org) established in 1993. In this review we will highlight the diversity and trophic roles of the MDV lake protist community and compare environmental factors driving spatiotemporal patterns in key protist taxa in two lakes within the McM LTER, Lakes Bonney and Fryxell. We will then discuss lessons learned from manipulated experiments on the impact of current and future climate-driven environmental change on sensitive protist taxa. Last, we will integrate knowledge gained from 25 years of lab-controlled experiments on key photosynthetic protists to extend our understanding of the function of these extremophiles within the MDV aquatic food webs. Our research group has studied the distribution and function of the MDV microbial community for nearly two decades, training the next generation of scientists to tackle future problems of these globally significant microbes. This review article will also highlight early career scientists who have contributed to this body of work and represent the future of scientific understanding in the Anthropocene.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, Disturbance, McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, phytoplankton, protist},
	doi = {10.3389/fevo.2024.1323472},
	url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.1323472},
	author = {Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss and Popson, Devon and Pereira, Rochelle and Dolhi-Binder, J and Teufel, Amber G. and Li, Wei and Kalra, Isha and Sherwell, Shasten S. and Reynebeau, Emily and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach}
}
@article {4152,
	title = {Drivers of protistan community autotrophy and heterotrophy in chemically stratified Antarctic lakes},
	journal = {Aquatic Microbial Ecology},
	volume = {82},
	year = {2019},
	month = {01/2019},
	pages = {225 - 239},
	abstract = {<p>Single-celled, eukaryotic microorganisms, known as protists, are responsible for 2 important, yet opposing, metabolic activities within aquatic food webs. They are major primary producers and highly active predators in marine and fresh water systems. While genomics has accelerated in recent years for this taxonomically diverse group, our understanding of the metabolic capabilities of most protists remains limited. It is also poorly understood how protist trophic mode is affected by biotic and abiotic factors, and therefore it is difficult to predict how events such as global climate change will affect the balance between autotrophic and heterotrophic activities in protist communities. To address open questions regarding how protist metabolic versatility is influenced by their environment, we characterized the potential for carbon fixation versus organic carbon degradation using enzymatic assays (RubisCO and β-D-glucosaminidase, respectively) within the water columns of ice-covered lakes in McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica. Steep physical and chemical gradients in the water columns, microorganism domination and minimal allochthonous inputs makes the MDV lakes uniquely suited to investigate environment-microbe interactions. Spatial trends in RubisCO and β-D-glucosaminidase activities were lake-specific and vertically stratified within the water columns. Moreover, bottom-up drivers controlling the activity of C-fixation vs. organic C-degradation among the MDV protist communities were distinct between the upper photic vs. the deep, aphotic zones. We conclude that differential controls over major C-cycling enzymes have important implications on the influence of environmental change on the carbon and nutrient cycles in the MDV lakes.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctic lakes, Aquatic protists, Autotrophy, Heterotrophy, McMurdo Dry Valleys, RubisCO, β-D-glucosaminidase},
	issn = {0948-3055},
	doi = {10.3354/ame01891},
	url = {https://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ame/v82/n3/p225-239/},
	author = {Li, Wei and Dolhi-Binder, J and Cariani, ZE and Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss}
}
