@article {4814, title = {Antarctic lake phytoplankton and bacteria from near-surface waters exhibit high sensitivity to climate-driven disturbance}, journal = {Environmental Microbiology}, year = {2022}, month = {07/2022}, abstract = {

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs), Antarctica, represent a cold, desert ecosystem poised on the threshold of melting and freezing water. The MDVs have experienced dramatic signs of climatic change, most notably a warm austral summer in 2001\–2002 that caused widespread flooding, partial ice cover loss and lake level rise. To understand the impact of these climatic disturbances on lake microbial communities, we simulated lake level rise and ice-cover loss by transplanting dialysis-bagged communities from selected depths to other locations in the water column or to an open water perimeter moat. Bacteria and eukaryote communities residing in the surface waters (5 m) exhibited shifts in community composition when exposed to either disturbance, while microbial communities from below the surface were largely unaffected by the transplant. We also observed an accumulation of labile dissolved organic carbon in the transplanted surface communities. In addition, there were taxa-specific sensitivities: cryptophytes and Actinobacteria were highly sensitive particularly to the moat transplant, while chlorophytes and several bacterial taxa increased in relative abundance or were unaffected. Our results reveal that future climate-driven disturbances will likely undermine the stability and productivity of MDV lake phytoplankton and bacterial communities in the surface waters of this extreme environment.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1111/1462-2920.16113}, url = {https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1462-2920.16113}, author = {Sherwell, Shasten S. and Kalra, Isha and Li, Wei and Diane M. McKnight and John C. Priscu and Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss} } @article {4154, title = {The Antarctic psychrophiles Chlamydomonas spp. UWO241 and ICE-MDV exhibit differential restructuring of photosystem I in response to iron}, journal = {Photosynthesis Research}, volume = {9}, year = {2019}, month = {02/2019}, abstract = {

Chlamydomonas sp. UWO241 is a psychrophilic alga isolated from the deep photic zone of a perennially ice-covered Antarctic lake (east lobe Lake Bonney, ELB). Past studies have shown that C. sp. UWO241 exhibits constitutive downregulation of photosystem I (PSI) and high rates of PSI-associated cyclic electron flow (CEF). Iron levels in ELB are in the nanomolar range leading us to hypothesize that the unusual PSI phenotype of C. sp. UWO241 could be a response to chronic Fe-deficiency. We studied the impact of Fe availability in C. sp. UWO241, a mesophile, C. reinhardtii SAG11-32c, as well as a psychrophile isolated from the shallow photic zone of ELB, Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-MDV. Under Fe-deficiency, PsaA abundance and levels of photooxidizable P700 (ΔA820/A820) were reduced in both psychrophiles relative to the mesophile. Upon increasing Fe, C. sp. ICE-MDV and C. reinhardtii exhibited restoration of PSI function, while C. sp. UWO241 exhibited only moderate changes in PSI activity and lacked almost all LHCI proteins. Relative to Fe-excess conditions (200 μM Fe2+), C. sp. UWO241 grown in 18 μM Fe2+ exhibited downregulation of light harvesting and photosystem core proteins, as well as upregulation of a bestrophin-like anion channel protein and two CEF-associated proteins (NdsS, PGL1). Key enzymes of starch synthesis and shikimate biosynthesis were also upregulated. We conclude that in response to variable Fe availability, the psychrophile C. sp. UWO241 exhibits physiological plasticity which includes restructuring of the photo-chemical apparatus, increased PSI-associated CEF, and shifts in downstream carbon metabolism toward storage carbon and secondary stress metabolites.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Antarctica, Cyclic electron flow, Iron, Photosystem I, Psychrophile}, issn = {0166-8595}, doi = {10.1007/s11120-019-00621-0}, url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11120-019-00621-0}, author = {Cook, Greg and Teufel, Amber and Kalra, Isha and Li, Wei and Wang, Xin and John C. Priscu and Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss} } @article {3214, title = {Autonomous Year-Round Sampling and Sensing to Explore the Physical and Biological Habitability of Permanently Ice-Covered Antarctic Lakes}, journal = {Marine Technology Society Journal}, volume = {48}, year = {2014}, month = {Jan-09-2014}, pages = {8 - 17}, abstract = {

The lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, are some of the only systems on our planet that are perennially ice-covered and support year-round metabolism. As such, these ecosystems can provide important information on conditions and life in polar regions on Earth and on other icy worlds in our solar system. Working in these extreme environments of the Dry Valleys poses many challenges, particularly with respect to data collection during dark winter months when logistical constraints make fieldwork difficult. In this paper, we describe the motivation, design, and challenges for this recently deployed instrumentation in Lake Bonney, a lake that has been the subject of summer research efforts for more than 40 years. The instrumentation deployed includes autonomous water, phytoplankton, and sediment samplers as well as cable-mounted profiling platforms with dissolved gas and fluorometry sensors. Data obtained from these instruments will allow us, for the first time, to define the habitability of this environment during the polar night. We include lessons learned during deployment and recommendations for effective instrument operation in these extreme conditions.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, issn = {00253324}, doi = {10.4031/MTSJ.48.5.6}, url = {http://openurl.ingenta.com/content/xref?genre=article\&issn=0025-3324\&volume=48\&issue=5\&spage=8http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/mts/mtsj/2014/00000048/00000005/art00002}, author = {Winslow, Luke A. and Hilary A. Dugan and Heather N. Buelow and Cronin, Kyle D. and John C. Priscu and Cristina D. Takacs-Vesbach and Peter T. Doran} } @article {1101, title = {Aeolian flux of biotic and abiotic material in Taylor Valley, Antarctica}, journal = {Geomorphology}, volume = {155-156}, year = {2012}, month = {6/2012}, pages = {102 - 111}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1016/j.geomorph.2011.12.009}, url = {http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X11006222}, author = {Marie {\v S}aback{\'a} and John C. Priscu and Hassan J. Basagic and Andrew G Fountain and Diana H. Wall and Ross A. Virginia and Mark C. Greenwood} } @article {1148, title = {Abiotic nitrous oxide emission from the hypersaline Don Juan Pond in Antarctica}, journal = {Nature Geoscience}, volume = {3}, year = {2010}, month = {5/2010}, pages = {341 - 344}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {10.1038/ngeo847}, url = {http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/v3/n5/full/ngeo847.html}, author = {Samarkin, Vladimir A. and Madigan, Michael T. and Bowles, Marshall W. and Karen L. Casciotti and John C. Priscu and Christopher P. McKay and Joye, Samantha B.} } @inbook {1206, title = {Antarctic subglacial water: origin, evolution, and ecology}, booktitle = {Polar Lakes and Rivers: Limnology of Arctic and Antarctic Aquatic Ecosystems}, year = {2008}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, organization = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {John C. Priscu and Tulaczyk, S and Studinger, M and Kenicutt, M and Brent C. Christner and Christine M. Foreman} } @article {1257, title = {Adaptation and acclimation of photosynthetic microorganisms to permanently cold environments}, journal = {Microbial and Molecular Biology Review}, volume = {70}, year = {2006}, month = {03/2006}, pages = {222-252}, abstract = {

Persistently cold environments constitute one of our world\&$\#$39;s largest ecosystems, and microorganisms dominate the biomass and metabolic activity in these extreme environments. The stress of low temperatures on life is exacerbated in organisms that rely on photoautrophic production of organic carbon and energy sources. Phototrophic organisms must coordinate temperature-independent reactions of light absorption and photochemistry with temperature-dependent processes of electron transport and utilization of energy sources through growth and metabolism. Despite this conundrum, phototrophic microorganisms thrive in all cold ecosystems described and (together with chemoautrophs) provide the base of autotrophic production in low-temperature food webs. Psychrophilic (organisms with a requirement for low growth temperatures) and psychrotolerant (organisms tolerant of low growth temperatures) photoautotrophs rely on low-temperature acclimative and adaptive strategies that have been described for other low-temperature-adapted heterotrophic organisms, such as cold-active proteins and maintenance of membrane fluidity. In addition, photoautrophic organisms possess other strategies to balance the absorption of light and the transduction of light energy to stored chemical energy products (NADPH and ATP) with downstream consumption of photosynthetically derived energy products at low temperatures. Lastly, differential adaptive and acclimative mechanisms exist in phototrophic microorganisms residing in low-temperature environments that are exposed to constant low-light environments versus high-light- and high-UV-exposed phototrophic assemblages.

}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Biggie}, doi = {10.1128/​MMBR.70.1.222-252.2006}, author = {Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss and John C. Priscu and Pocock, T and Gudynaite-Savitch, L and Norman P.A. Huner} } @inbook {1260, title = {Antarctic lake systems and climate change}, booktitle = {Trends in Antarctic Terrestrial and Limnetic Ecosystems: Antarctica as a Global Indicator}, year = {2006}, publisher = {S}, organization = {S}, address = {Dordrecht, The Netherlands}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, doi = {LTER}, author = {W. Berry Lyons and Johanna Laybourn-Parry and Kathleen A. Welch and John C. Priscu}, editor = {D.M. Bergstrom and Peter Convey and A.H.L. Huiskes} } @article {1377, title = {Antarctic climate cooling and terrestrial ecosystem response}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {415}, year = {2002}, month = {01/2002}, pages = {517-520}, type = {Journal}, keywords = {LTER-MCM, Climate Response}, doi = {10.1038/nature710}, author = {Peter T. Doran and John C. Priscu and W. Berry Lyons and John E. Walsh and Andrew G Fountain and Diane M. McKnight and Daryl L. Moorhead and Ross A. Virginia and Diana H. Wall and Gary D. Clow and Christian H. Fritsen and Christopher P. McKay and Andrew N. Parsons} } @article {1485, title = {The Abundance of Ammonium-Oxidizing Bacteria in Lake Bonney, Antarctica Determined by Immunofluorescence, PCR and In Situ Hybridization, in Ecosystem Processes in a Polar Desert: The McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica}, journal = {Antarctic Research Series}, volume = {72}, year = {1998}, pages = {217-228}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {Mary A. Voytek and Bess B. Ward and John C. Priscu} } @article {1486, title = {Antarctic lake-ice microbial consortia: Origin, distribution, and growth physiology}, journal = {Antarctic Journal of the United States - 1996 Review Issue (NSF 98-28)}, volume = {31}, year = {1998}, pages = {223-224}, keywords = {LTER-MCM}, author = {John C. Priscu and Christian H. Fritsen} }