02559nas a2200301   4500008004100000245008000041210006900121260001200190300001200202490000700214520166000221653001501881653001601896653002901912653001801941653001201959100002901971700001802000700002202018700002002040700002202060700001202082700001602094700002602110700002102136700003302157856006702190       2024                        eng d00aSentinel protist taxa of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes, Antarctica: A review0 aSentinel protist taxa of the McMurdo Dry Valley lakes Antarctica  c03/2024  a13234720 v123 a<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>10aAntarctica10aDisturbance10aMcMurdo Dry Valley lakes10aphytoplankton10aprotist1 aMorgan-Kiss, Rachael, M.1 aPopson, Devon1 aPereira, Rochelle1 aDolhi-Binder, J1 aTeufel, Amber, G.1 aLi, Wei1 aKalra, Isha1 aSherwell, Shasten, S.1 aReynebeau, Emily1 aTakacs-Vesbach, Cristina, D.  uhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2024.132347202573nas a2200265   4500008004100000022001400041245010400055210006900159260001200228300001400240490000700254520177600261653002002037653002102057653001502078653001702093653002402110653001202134653002502146100001202171700002002183700001602203700002902219856005902248       2019                        eng d  a0948-305500aDrivers of protistan community autotrophy and heterotrophy in chemically stratified Antarctic lakes0 aDrivers of protistan community autotrophy and heterotrophy in ch  c01/2019  a225 - 2390 v823 a<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>10aAntarctic lakes10aAquatic protists10aAutotrophy10aHeterotrophy10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10aRubisCO10aβ-D-glucosaminidase1 aLi, Wei1 aDolhi-Binder, J1 aCariani, ZE1 aMorgan-Kiss, Rachael, M.  uhttps://www.int-res.com/abstracts/ame/v82/n3/p225-239/