02735nas a2200325 4500008004100000022001400041245008600055210006900141260001200210490000700222520179000229653001502019653001302034653001002047653002202057653001002079100002602089700002402115700002502139700002102164700001802185700002502203700002102228700002202249700001902271700002402290700002102314700001702335856005702352 2025 eng d a0722-406000aA comprehensive survey of soil microbial diversity across the Antarctic continent0 acomprehensive survey of soil microbial diversity across the Anta c02/20250 v483 a

Antarctic soils are unique from those found nearly anywhere else on Earth yet can still harbor a broad diversity of microorganisms able to tolerate the challenging conditions typical of the continent. For these reasons, microbiologists have been drawn to Antarctica for decades. However, our understanding of which microbes thrive in Antarctic soils and how they to do so remains limited. To help resolve these knowledge gaps, we analyzed a collection of 200 archived Antarctic soils—from Livingston Island on the Antarctic Peninsula to Cape Hallett in northern Victoria Land. We analyzed the prokaryotic and fungal communities in these soils using both cultivation-independent marker gene sequencing and cultivation-dependent approaches (microbial isolation), paired with extensive soil geochemical analyses. Our cultivation-independent analyses indicate that colder, saltier, and drier soils harbor less diverse communities of bacteria and fungi, distinct from those found in soils with less challenging conditions. We also built a culture collection from a subset of these soils that encompasses more than 50 bacterial and fungal genera, including cold-tolerant organisms, such as <i>Cryobacterium</i> and <i>Cryomyces</i>. By directly comparing the diversity of our cultured isolates against our cultivation-independent data, we show that many of the more abundant Antarctic taxa are not readily cultivated and highlight bacterial and fungal taxa that should be the focus of future cultivation efforts. Together, we hope that our collection of isolates, the comprehensive data compiled from the cultivation-independent analyses, and our geochemical analyses will serve as a community resource to accelerate the study of Antarctic soil microbes.

10aAntarctica10abacteria10afungi10amicrobial ecology10asoils1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aChildress, Mary, K.1 aVanderburgh, Caihong1 aWillmore, Rachel1 aHogg, Ian, D.1 aSancho, Leopoldo, G.1 aLee, Charles, K.1 aBarrett, John, E.1 aQuandt, Alisha1 aLeMonte, Joshua, J.1 aAdams, Byron, J.1 aFierer, Noah uhttps://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00300-025-03372-y02770nas a2200241 4500008004100000245007200041210006900113260001200182300000800194490000700202520208300209653001502292653001902307653001902326653001302345653002202358653002102380100002902401700002002430700001302450700002102463856004402484 2023 eng d00aTemperature response of metabolic activity of an Antarctic nematode0 aTemperature response of metabolic activity of an Antarctic nemat c01/2023 a1090 v123 a

Because of climate change, the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica (MCM) have experienced an increase in the frequency and magnitude of summer pulse warming and surface ice and snow melting events. In response to these environmental changes, some nematode species in the MCM have experienced steady population declines over the last three decades, but Plectus murrayi, a mesophilic nematode species, has responded with a steady increase in range and abundance. To determine how P. murrayi responds to increasing temperatures, we measured metabolic heat and CO2 production rates and calculated O2 consumption rates as a function of temperature at 5 °C intervals from 5 to 50 °C. Heat, CO2 production, and O2 consumption rates increase approximately exponentially up to 40 °C, a temperature never experienced in their polar habitat. Metabolic rates decline rapidly above 40 °C and are irreversibly lost at 50 °C due to thermal stress and mortality. Caenorhabditis elegans, a much more widespread nematode that is found in more temperate environments reaches peak metabolic heat rate at just 27 °C, above which it experiences high mortality due to thermal stress. At temperatures from 10 to 40 °C, P. murrayi produces about 6 times more CO2 than the O2 it consumes, a respiratory quotient indicative of either acetogenesis or de novo lipogenesis. No potential acetogenic microbes were identified in the P. murrayi microbiome, suggesting that P. murrayi is producing increased CO2 as a byproduct of de novo lipogenesis. This phenomenon, in conjunction with increased summer temperatures in their polar habitat, will likely lead to increased demand for carbon and subsequent increases in CO2 production, population abundance, and range expansion. If such changes are not concomitant with increased carbon inputs, we predict the MCM soil ecosystems will experience dramatic declines in functional and taxonomic diversity.

10aAntarctica10acarbon cycling10aclimate change10anematode10arespiration rates10asoil temperature1 aRobinson, Colin, Michael1 aHansen, Lee, D.1 aXue, Xia1 aAdams, Byron, J. uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/12/1/10900974nas a2200217 4500008004100000245004900041210004200090260001200132490000700144520034200151653001500493653001700508653001300525653002500538653001000563653001400573100001300587700002100600700002200621856011300643 2022 eng d00aA draft mitogenome of Plectus murrayi0 adraft mitogenome of iPlectus murrayii c02/20220 v543 a

Plectus murrayi is a free-living microbivorous nematode endemic to Antarctic soils. Our draft assembly of its mitogenome was 15,656 bp long, containing 12 protein-coding, eight transfer RNA (tRNA), and two ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Mitophylogenomic analyses extend our understanding of mitochondrial evolution in Nematoda

10aAntarctica10agenome decay10agenomics10amitochondrial genome10aMitoZ10aphylogeny1 aXue, Xia1 aAdams, Byron, J.1 aDilman, Adler, R. uhttps://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/jofnem-2022-0035https://www.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/jofnem-2022-003502399nas a2200217 4500008004100000245008500041210006900126260005400195490000700249520171000256653001501966653001701981653002401998653001402022653002402036653001002060653002402070100002502094700002102119856004102140 2022 eng d00aEffect of climate history on the genetic structure of an Antarctic soil nematode0 aEffect of climate history on the genetic structure of an Antarct aProvo, UT, USAbBrigham Young Universityc12/20220 vMS3 a

Historical climate disturbances such as glacial cycling and fluctuating stream, lake, and sea levels strongly influence the distribution and evolutionary trajectories of Antarctic terrestrial species. Antarctic invertebrates, with limited long-range mobility, including the ubiquitous sentinel nematode species Scottnema lindsayae, are especially sensitive to climate disturbances. We tested hypotheses associated with the historical geographic and population genetic structure of this species as it occurs across the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. In order to reconstruct the influence of climate disturbance and ecological conditions on this species, partial mitochondrial COI gene sequences were sequenced and analyzed from individual S. lindsayae collected from sites across the MDVs reflecting a opposing gradients of climate disturbance during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We found that populations were strongly geomorphic barriers with distinct haplotypes associated with valleys except among valleys that experienced glacial advance and retreat during the LGM. One monophyletic clade corresponds with valley systems that were undisturbed during the LGM indicating putative refugia areas. A second monophyletic clade corresponds to recent dispersal and expansion of evolutionarily younger populations into valleys that were strongly reworked by glacial activity during the LGM. Our work shows that contemporary populations of these animals are strongly structured by prior climate history. Such findings can be useful for interpreting long-term monitoring of demographic shifts of soil organisms in response to changing climate trends in the McMurdo Dry Valleys.

10aAntarctica10abiogeography10aclimate disturbance10aevolution10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10apolar10apopulation genetics1 aJackson, Abigail, C.1 aAdams, Byron, J. uhttp://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd1262202236nas a2200241 4500008004100000245006500041210006400106260001200170300000900182490000700191520155500198653001501753653002401768653001801792653002601810653001201836653002201848100002501870700001701895700001501912700002101927856004601948 2022 eng d00aGlacial legacies: Microbial communities of Antarctic refugia0 aGlacial legacies Microbial communities of Antarctic refugia c10/2022 a14400 v113 a

In the cold deserts of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) the suitability of soil for microbial life is determined by both contemporary processes and legacy effects. Climatic changes and accompanying glacial activity have caused local extinctions and lasting geochemical changes to parts of these soil ecosystems over several million years, while areas of refugia may have escaped these disturbances and existed under relatively stable conditions. This study describes the impact of historical glacial and lacustrine disturbance events on microbial communities across the MDV to investigate how this divergent disturbance history influenced the structuring of microbial communities across this otherwise very stable ecosystem. Soil bacterial communities from 17 sites representing either putative refugia or sites disturbed during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (22–17 kya) were characterized using 16 S metabarcoding. Regardless of geographic distance, several putative refugia sites at elevations above 600 m displayed highly similar microbial communities. At a regional scale, community composition was found to be influenced by elevation and geographic proximity more so than soil geochemical properties. These results suggest that despite the extreme conditions, diverse microbial communities exist in these putative refugia that have presumably remained undisturbed at least through the LGM. We suggest that similarities in microbial communities can be interpreted as evidence for historical climate legacies on an ecosystem-wide scale.

10aAntarctica10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10ametabarcoding10amicrobial communities10arefugia10asoil biodiversity1 aJackson, Abigail, C.1 aJorna, Jesse1 aChaston, J1 aAdams, Byron, J. uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/10/144002506nas a2200289 4500008004100000022001400041245006300055210006300118260001200181490000800193520169900201653001501900653001701915653001301932653001801945653001001963653001001973100002601983700002102009700001802030700001702048700002002065700002002085700002102105700001702126856007302143 2021 eng d a2169-895300aExploring the boundaries of microbial habitability in soil0 aExploring the boundaries of microbial habitability in soil c06/20210 v1263 a

Microbes are widely assumed to be capable of colonizing even the most challenging terrestrial surface environments on Earth given enough time. We would not expect to find surface soils uninhabited by microbes as soils typically harbor diverse microbial communities and viable microbes have been detected in soils exposed to even the most inhospitable conditions. However, if uninhabited soils do exist, we might expect to find them in Antarctica. We analyzed 204 ice-free soils collected from across a remote valley in the Transantarctic Mountains (84–85°S, 174–177°W) and were able to identify a potential limit of microbial habitability. While most of the soils we tested contained diverse microbial communities, with fungi being particularly ubiquitous, microbes could not be detected in many of the driest, higher elevation soils—results that were confirmed using cultivation-dependent, cultivation-independent, and metabolic assays. While we cannot confirm that this subset of soils is completely sterile and devoid of microbial life, our results suggest that microbial life is severely restricted in the coldest, driest, and saltiest Antarctic soils. Constant exposure to these conditions for thousands of years has limited microbial communities so that their presence and activity is below detectable limits using a variety of standard methods. Such soils are unlikely to be unique to the studied region with this work supporting previous hypotheses that microbial habitability is constrained by near-continuous exposure to cold, dry, and salty conditions, establishing the environmental conditions that limit microbial life in terrestrial surface soils.

10aAntarctica10aastrobiology10abacteria10aextremophiles10afungi10asoils1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aDiaz, Melisa, A.1 aHogg, Ian, D.1 aLyons, Berry1 aJackson, Andrew1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aAdams, Byron, J.1 aFierer, Noah uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JG00605202380nas a2200253 4500008004100000245012200041210006900163260001200232300000900244490000600253520157500259653001501834653002701849653002401876653001901900653001601919653001901935653002701954100002501981700002902006700002602035700002102061856004402082 2021 eng d00aPhagotrophic protists and their associates: Evidence for preferential grazing in an abiotically driven soil ecosystem0 aPhagotrophic protists and their associates Evidence for preferen c08/2021 a15550 v93 a

The complex relationship between ecosystem function and soil food web structure is governed by species interactions, many of which remain unmapped. Phagotrophic protists structure soil food webs by grazing the microbiome, yet their involvement in intraguild competition, susceptibility to predator diversity, and grazing preferences are only vaguely known. These species-dependent interactions are contextualized by adjacent biotic and abiotic processes, and thus obfuscated by typically high soil biodiversity. Such questions may be investigated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica because the physical environment strongly filters biodiversity and simplifies the influence of abiotic factors. To detect the potential interactions in the MDV, we analyzed the co-occurrence among shotgun metagenome sequences for associations suggestive of intraguild competition, predation, and preferential grazing. In order to control for confounding abiotic drivers, we tested co-occurrence patterns against various climatic and edaphic factors. Non-random co-occurrence between phagotrophic protists and other soil fauna was biotically driven, but we found no support for competition or predation. However, protists predominately associated with Proteobacteria and avoided Actinobacteria, suggesting grazing preferences were modulated by bacterial cell-wall structure and growth rate. Our study provides a critical starting-point for mapping protist interactions in native soils and highlights key trends for future targeted molecular and culture-based approaches.

10aAntarctica10aco-occurrence networks10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10aRhogostoma sp.10aSandona sp.10asoil food webs10avariation partitioning1 aThompson, Andrew, R.1 aRoth-Monzón, Andrea, J.1 aAanderud, Zachary, T.1 aAdams, Byron, J. uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/8/1555