01755nas a2200241 4500008004100000245006900041210006500110260001200175300001200187490000800199520109500207653001101302100002201313700001501335700001601350700001501366700001601381700001401397700001301411700002101424700001101445856005701456 2009 eng d00aA Contemporary Microbially Maintained Subglacial Ferrous "Ocean"0 aContemporary Microbially Maintained Subglacial Ferrous Ocean c04/2009 a397-4000 v3243 a

An active microbial assemblage cycles sulfur in a sulfate-rich, ancient marine brine beneath Taylor Glacier, an outlet glacier of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, with Fe(III) serving as the terminal electron acceptor. Isotopic measurements of sulfate, water, carbonate, and ferrous iron and functional gene analyses of adenosine 5′-phosphosulfate reductase imply that a microbial consortium facilitates a catalytic sulfur cycle. These metabolic pathways result from a limited organic carbon supply because of the absence of contemporary photosynthesis, yielding a subglacial ferrous brine that is anoxic but not sulfidic. Coupled biogeochemical processes below the glacier enable subglacial microbes to grow in extended isolation, demonstrating how analogous organic-starved systems, such as Neoproterozoic oceans, accumulated Fe(II) despite the presence of an active sulfur cycle.

10aBiggie1 aMikucki, Jill, A.1 aPearson, A1 aJohnston, D1 aTurchyn, A1 aFarquhar, J1 aSchrag, D1 aAnbar, A1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aLee, P uhttp://www.sciencemag.org/content/324/5925/397.short02787nas a2200241 4500008004100000245002300041210002300064250000600087300001000093490000700103520220500110653001102315653001702326100001402343700002602357700002002383700002402403700001402427700002102441700002802462700001502490856004002505 2008 eng d00aGlacial ecosystems0 aGlacial ecosystems a1 a41-670 v783 a
There is now compelling evidence that microbially mediated reactions impart a significant effect upon the dynamics, composition, and abundance of nutrients in glacial melt water. Consequently, we must now consider ice masses as ecosystem habitats in their own right and address their diversity, functional potential, and activity as part of alpine and polar environments. Although such research is already underway, its fragmentary nature provides little basis for developing modern concepts of glacier ecology. This paper therefore provides a much-needed framework for development by reviewing the physical, biogeochemical, and microbiological characteristics of microbial habitats that have been identified within glaciers and ice sheets. Two key glacial ecosystems emerge, one inhabiting the glacier surface (the supraglacial ecosystem) and one at the ice-bed interface (the subglacial ecosystem). The supraglacial ecosystem is characterized by a diverse consortium of microbes (usually bacteria, algae, phytoflagellates, fungi, viruses and occasional rotifers, tardigrades, and diatoms) within the snowpack, supraglacial streams, and melt pools (cryoconite holes). The subglacial system is dominated by aerobic/anaerobic bacteria and most probably viruses in basal ice/till mixtures and subglacial lakes. A third, so-called englacial ecosystem is also described, but it is demonstrated that conditions within glacier ice are sufficient to make metabolic activity and its impact upon nutrient dynamics negligible at the glacier scale.
 
Consideration of the surface and internal heat balances of the glacier show that all glacial ecosystems are sensitive to climate change, although at different timescales. Thus, while rapid, melt-driven habitat changes lead to melt-out, resuscitation, and redistribution of microorganisms in many supraglacial ecosystems, much slower climatic and glacial mass-balance processes effect such changes in the subglacial ecosystem. Paradoxically, it is shown that these forces have brought about net refreezing and the onset of cryostasis in the subglacial ecosystems of many Arctic glaciers subject to thinning in recent decades.
10aBiggie10asnow ecology1 aHodson, A1 aAnesio, Alexandre, M.1 aTranter, Martyn1 aFountain, Andrew, G1 aOsborn, M1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aLaybourn-Parry, Johanna1 aSattler, B uhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1890/07-0187.103147nas a2200241 4500008004100000245006800041210006800109260001200177300001400189490000800203520239000211653001102601100002202612700002302634700001702657700002402674700002102698700002402719700002002743700002402763700002102787856009702808 2007 eng d00aBiogeochemical stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems0 aBiogeochemical stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley ecosystems c02/2007 aG01010+120 v1123 a

Among aquatic and terrestrial landscapes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, ecosystem stoichiometry ranges from values near the Redfield ratios for C:N:P to nutrient concentrations in proportions far above or below ratios necessary to support balanced microbial growth. This polar desert provides an opportunity to evaluate stoichiometric approaches to understand nutrient cycling in an ecosystem where biological diversity and activity are low, and controls over the movement and mass balances of nutrients operate over 10–106 years. The simple organisms (microbial and metazoan) comprising dry valley foodwebs adhere to strict biochemical requirements in the composition of their biomass, and when activated by availability of liquid water, they influence the chemical composition of their environment according to these ratios. Nitrogen and phosphorus varied significantly in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems occurring on landscape surfaces across a wide range of exposure ages, indicating strong influences of landscape development and geochemistry on nutrient availability. Biota control the elemental ratio of stream waters, while geochemical stoichiometry (e.g., weathering, atmospheric deposition) evidently limits the distribution of soil invertebrates. We present a conceptual model describing transformations across dry valley landscapes facilitated by exchanges of liquid water and biotic processing of dissolved nutrients. We conclude that contemporary ecosystem stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley soils, glaciers, streams, and lakes results from a combination of extant biological processes superimposed on a legacy of landscape processes and previous climates.

10aBiggie1 aBarrett, John, E.1 aVirginia, Ross, A.1 aLyons, Berry1 aMcKnight, Diane, M.1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aFountain, Andrew, G1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aMoorhead, Daryl, L.1 aDoran, Peter, T. uhttps://mcm.lternet.edu/content/biogeochemical-stoichiometry-antarctic-dry-valley-ecosystems02534nas a2200193 4500008004100000245009700041210006900138260001200207300001200219490000700231520185500238653001102093100002902104700002102133700001402154700002502168700002402193856012302217 2006 eng d00aAdaptation and acclimation of photosynthetic microorganisms to permanently cold environments0 aAdaptation and acclimation of photosynthetic microorganisms to p c03/2006 a222-2520 v703 a

Persistently cold environments constitute one of our world'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.

10aBiggie1 aMorgan-Kiss, Rachael, M.1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aPocock, T1 aGudynaite-Savitch, L1 aHuner, Norman, P.A. uhttps://mcm.lternet.edu/content/adaptation-and-acclimation-photosynthetic-microorganisms-permanently-cold-environments00506nas a2200157 4500008004100000245007600041210006900117260001200186300001400198490000700212653001100219100003300230700002100263700002400284856004000308 2001 eng d00aBacterial dissolved organic carbon demand in antarctic dry valley lakes0 aBacterial dissolved organic carbon demand in antarctic dry valle c07/2001 a1189-11940 v4610aBiggie1 aTakacs-Vesbach, Cristina, D.1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aMcKnight, Diane, M. uhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/267103100762nas a2200241 4500008004100000245007100041210006900112260001200181300001400193490000800207653001100215100002100226700002700247700002200274700002800296700002000324700002700344700002100371700002400392700002200416700002400438856005800462 1998 eng d00aPerennial Antarctic Lake Ice: An Oasis for Life in a Polar Desert0 aPerennial Antarctic Lake Ice An Oasis for Life in a Polar Desert c06/1998 a2095-20980 v28010aBiggie1 aPriscu, John, C.1 aFritsen, Christian, H.1 aAdams, Edward, E.1 aGiovannoni, Stephen, J.1 aPaerl, Hans, W.1 aMcKay, Christopher, P.1 aDoran, Peter, T.1 aGordon, Douglas, A.1 aLanoil, Brian, D.1 aPinckney, James, L. uhttp://www.sciencemag.org/content/280/5372/2095.short