02506nas 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/10.1029/2020JG00605202485nas a2200229 4500008004100000245009100041210006900132260001200201490000600213520181500219653001302034653002802047653001102075653001302086653001002099653002102109653002102130653002502151100001702176700002002193856004202213 2019 eng d00aBiotic interactions in experimental Antarctic soil microcosms vary with abiotic stress0 aBiotic interactions in experimental Antarctic soil microcosms va c08/20190 v33 a

Biotic interactions structure ecological communities but abiotic factors affect the strength of these relationships. These interactions are difficult to study in soils due to their vast biodiversity and the many environmental factors that affect soil species. The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, are relatively simple soil ecosystems compared to temperate soils, making them an excellent study system for the trophic relationships of soil. Soil microbes and relatively few species of nematodes, rotifers, tardigrades, springtails, and mites are patchily distributed across the cold, dry landscape, which lacks vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates. However, glacier and permafrost melt are expected to cause shifts in soil moisture and solutes across this ecosystem. To test how increased moisture and salinity affect soil invertebrates and their biotic interactions, we established a laboratory microcosm experiment (4 community × 2 moisture × 2 salinity treatments). Community treatments were: (1) Bacteria only (control), (2) Scottnema (S. lindsayae + bacteria), (3) Eudorylaimus (E. antarcticus + bacteria), and (4) Mixed (S. lindsayae + E. antarcticus + bacteria). Salinity and moisture treatments were control and high. High moisture reduced S. lindsayae adults, while high salinity reduced the total S. lindsayae population. We found that S. lindsayae exerted top-down control over soil bacteria populations, but this effect was dependent on salinity treatment. In the high salinity treatment, bacteria were released from top-down pressure as S. lindsayae declined. Ours was the first study to empirically demonstrate, although in lab microcosm conditions, top-down control in the MDV soil food web.

10abacteria10abiological interactions10adesert10anematode10apolar10asoil communities10atop-down effects10atrophic interactions1 aShaw, Ashley1 aWall, Diana, H. uhttps://www.mdpi.com/2571-8789/3/3/57