@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 {4186,
	title = {Influence of environmental drivers and potential interactions on the distribution of microbial communities from three permanently stratified Antarctic lakes},
	journal = {Frontiers in Microbiology},
	volume = {10},
	year = {2019},
	month = {05/2019},
	abstract = {<p>The McMurdo Dry Valley (MDV) lakes represent unique habitats in the microbial world. Perennial ice covers protect liquid water columns from either significant allochthonous inputs or seasonal mixing, resulting in centuries of stable biogeochemistry. Extreme environmental conditions including low seasonal photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), near freezing temperatures, and oligotrophy have precluded higher trophic levels from the food webs. Despite these limitations, diverse microbial life flourishes in the stratified water columns, including Archaea, bacteria, fungi, protists, and viruses. While a few recent studies have applied next generation sequencing, a thorough understanding of the MDV lake microbial diversity and community structure is currently lacking. Here we used Illumina MiSeq sequencing of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes combined with a microscopic survey of key eukaryotes to compare the community structure and potential interactions among the bacterial and eukaryal communities within the water columns of Lakes Bonney (east and west lobes, ELB, and WLB, respectively) and Fryxell (FRX). Communities were distinct between the upper, oxic layers and the dark, anoxic waters, particularly among the bacterial communities residing in WLB and FRX. Both eukaryal and bacterial community structure was influenced by different biogeochemical parameters in the oxic and anoxic zones. Bacteria formed complex interaction networks which were lake-specific. Several eukaryotes exhibit potential interactions with bacteria in ELB and WLB, while interactions between these groups in the more productive FRX were relatively rare.</p>},
	keywords = {LTER-MCM, Aquatic protists, environmental drivers, heterotrophic bacteria, interactions, McMurdo Dry Valley lakes},
	doi = {10.3389/fmicb.2019.01067},
	url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01067/full},
	author = {Li, Wei and Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss}
}
