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<p>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&mdash;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 &lt;i&gt;Cryobacterium&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Cryomyces&lt;/i&gt;. 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.</p>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-y02238nas a2200205   4500008004100000245004700041210004700088260004800135490001000183520164300193653001501836653002901851653002201880653001901902653001001921653001001931100002601941700001701967856004801984       2023                        eng d00aMicrobial life in challenging environments0 aMicrobial life in challenging environments  aBoulder, CObUniversity of Colorado Boulder0 vPh.D.3 a<p>Microorganisms are nearly ubiquitous on Earth, but the identity and function of microbial communities are inherently dependent on the properties of the specific environment in question. Here, I have studied soils around the world to answer questions about how the functional attributes of microorganisms allow them to respond to challenging environmental conditions. First, I explore how microbial communities in soils change across environmental gradients in Antarctica. I show that microbes in Antarctic surface soils are most restricted by low temperatures, low water availability, and high concentrations of salt. Microbial communities near the polar plateau, the most challenging environment, are dominated by Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi, and are enriched in genes associated with the oxidation of hydrogen gas as an energy source. Second, I show that the earliest microbial colonizers of a newly-formed volcanic island in the Kingdom of Tonga are chemolithotrophs that appear to have come from nearby geothermal systems. While many of these microbes utilize sulfur as an energy source, the most abundant organisms have genes that indicate they can oxidize trace gases including carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Finally, I show that organisms associated with carbon limited subsurface soils tend to have smaller genomes, grow more slowly, and have more gene pathways associated with metabolism and the storage of carbon. Taken together, these studies shed light on microbial survival in challenging soil environments and show the varied ways in which microbial communities interact with and are affected by their surroundings.</p>10aAntarctica10aenvironmental conditions10amicrobial ecology10amicroorganisms10asoils10atonga1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aFierer, Noah  uhttps://www.proquest.com/docview/281473420902367nas a2200289   4500008004100000245011400041210006900155260001200224300001400236490000600250520147700256653001501733653002201748653002201770653001001792100002601802700002401828700002701852700002101879700001801900700001701918700002001935700001701955700001701972700002401989856006402013       2022                        eng d00aElevational constraints on the composition and genomic attributes of microbial communities in Antarctic soils0 aElevational constraints on the composition and genomic attribute  c01/2022  ae01330-210 v73 a<p>The inland soils found on the Antarctic continent represent one of the more challenging environments for microbial life on Earth. Nevertheless, Antarctic soils harbor unique bacterial and archaeal (prokaryotic) communities able to cope with extremely cold and dry conditions. These communities are not homogeneous, and the taxonomic composition and functional capabilities (genomic attributes) of these communities across environmental gradients remain largely undetermined. We analyzed the prokaryotic communities in soil samples collected from across the Shackleton Glacier region of Antarctica by coupling quantitative PCR, marker gene amplicon sequencing, and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. We found that elevation was the dominant factor explaining differences in the structures of the soil prokaryotic communities, with the drier and saltier soils found at higher elevations harboring less diverse communities and unique assemblages of cooccurring taxa. The higher-elevation soil communities also had lower maximum potential growth rates (as inferred from metagenome-based estimates of codon usage bias) and an overrepresentation of genes associated with trace gas metabolism. Together, these results highlight the utility of assessing community shifts across pronounced environmental gradients to improve our understanding of the microbial diversity found in Antarctic soils and the strategies used by soil microbes to persist at the limits of habitability.</p>10aAntarctica10amicrobial ecology10asoil microbiology10asoils1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aHenley, Jessica, B.1 aHolland-Moritz, Hannah1 aDiaz, Melisa, A.1 aHogg, Ian, D.1 aLyons, Berry1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aAdams, Byron1 aFierer, Noah1 aMackelprang, Rachel  uhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/msystems.01330-2102600nas a2200217   4500008004100000245010600041210006900147260001200216490000700228520191500235653001502150653001802165653001602183653002202199653001702221100002202238700001702260700002102277700001702298856006702315       2021                        eng d00aAntarctic water tracks: Microbial community responses to variation in soil moisture, pH, and salinity0 aAntarctic water tracks Microbial community responses to variatio  c01/20210 v123 a<p>Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited to investigate environmental and spatial influences on bacterial community structure. Water tracks are annually wetted habitats in the cold-arid soils of Antarctica that form briefly each summer with moisture sourced from snow melt, ground ice thaw, and atmospheric deposition via deliquescence and vapor flow into brines. Compared to neighboring arid soils, water tracks are highly saline and relatively moist habitats. They represent a considerable area (&sim;5&ndash;10 km<sup>2</sup>) of the Dry Valley terrestrial ecosystem, an area that is expected to increase with ongoing climate change. The goal of this study was to determine how variation in the environmental conditions of water tracks influences the composition and diversity of microbial communities. We found significant differences in microbial community composition between on- and off-water track samples, and across two distinct locations. Of the tested environmental variables, soil salinity was the best predictor of community composition, with members of the <em>Bacteroidetes</em> phylum being relatively more abundant at higher salinities and the <em>Actinobacteria</em> phylum showing the opposite pattern. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between salinity and bacterial diversity. Our results suggest water track formation significantly alters dry soil microbial communities, likely influencing subsequent ecosystem functioning. We highlight how Dry Valley water tracks could be a useful model system for understanding the potential habitability of transiently wetted environments found on the surface of Mars.</p>10aAntarctica10aextremophiles10aMars analog10amicrobial ecology10awater tracks1 aGeorge, Scott, F.1 aFierer, Noah1 aLevy, Joseph, S.1 aAdams, Byron  uhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.61673002475nas a2200229   4500008004100000020002200041245008100063210006900144260004400213300001300257520171900270653001201989653002202001653002502023653003102048653001702079100001502096700002102111700002302132700002402155856006602179       2019                        eng d  a978-3-030-16775-200aComplex Structure but Simple Function in Microbial Mats from Antarctic Lakes0 aComplex Structure but Simple Function in Microbial Mats from Ant  aChambSpringer International Publishing  a91 - 1203 a<p>Microbial mats growing under the permanent ice cover of Antarctic lakes occupy an exceptionally low-disturbance regime. Constant temperature, the absence of bioturbation or physical disturbance from wind action or ice formation allow mats to accumulate, as annual growth layers, over many decades or even centuries. In so doing they often assume decimetre scale, three-dimensional morphologies such as elaborate pinnacle structures and conical mounds. Here we combine existing and new information to describe microbial structures in three Antarctic lakes&mdash;simple prostrate mats in Lake Hoare, emergent cones in Lake Untersee and elaborate pinnacles in Lake Vanda. We attempt to determine whether structures emerge simply from uncoordinated organism-environment interactions or whether they represent an example of &ldquo;emergent complexity&rdquo;, within which some degree of self-organisation occurs to confer a holistic functional advantage to component organisms. While some holistic advantages were evident from the structures&mdash;the increase in surface area allows greater biomass and overall productivity and nutrient exchange with overlying water&mdash;the structures could also be understood in terms of potential interactions between individuals, their orientation and their environment. The data lack strong evidence of coordinated behaviour directed towards holistic advantages to the structure, though hints of coordinated behaviour are present as non-random distributions of structural elements. The great size of microbial structures in Antarctic lakes, and their relatively simple community composition, makes them excellent models for more focused research on microbial cooperation.</p>10abiofilm10amicrobial ecology10amicrobial structures10aself-organising structures10astromatolite1 aHawes, Ian1 aSumner, Dawn, Y.1 aJungblut, Anne, D.1 aHurst, Christon, J.  uhttps://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-16775-2_404232nas a2200193   4500008004100000245010200041210006900143260003400212490001000246520358400256653002003840653001703860653002403877653002203901653003403923100002103957700002203978856003804000       2014                        eng d00aEnvironmental Controls Over the Distribution and Function of Antarctic Soil Bacterial Communities0 aEnvironmental Controls Over the Distribution and Function of Ant  aBlacksburg, VAbVirginia Tech0 vPh.D.3 a<div title="Page 2"><div><div><p>Microbial community composition plays a vital role in soil biogeochemical cycling. Information that explains the biogeography of microorganisms is consequently necessary for predicting the timing and magnitude of important ecosystem services mediated by soil biota, such as decomposition and nutrient cycling. Theory developed to explain patterns in plant and animal distributions such as the prevalent relationship between ecosystem productivity and diversity may be successfully extended to microbial systems and accelerate an emerging ecological understanding of the &quot;unseen majority.&quot; These considerations suggest a need to define the important mechanisms which affect microbial biogeography as well as the sensitivity of community structure/function to changing climatic or environmental conditions. To this end, my dissertation covers three data chapters in which I have 1) examined patterns in bacterial biogeography using gradients of environmental severity and productivity to identify changes in community diversity (e.g. taxonomic richness) and structure (e.g. similarity); 2) detected potential bacterial ecotypes associated with distinct soil habitats such as those of high alkalinity or electrical conductivity and; 3) measured environmental controls over the function (e.g. primary production, exoenzyme activity) of soil organisms in an environment of severe environmental limitations. Sampling was performed in the polar desert of Antarctica&#39;s McMurdo Dry Valleys, a model ecosystem which hosts microbially-dominated soil foodwebs and displays heterogeneously distributed soil properties across the landscape. Results for Chapter 2 indicate differential effects of resource availability and geochemical severity on bacterial communities,&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 0.923em;">with a significant productivity-diversity relationship that plateaus near the highest observed concentrations of the limiting resource organic carbon (0.30mg C/g soil). Geochemical severity (e.g. pH, electrical conductivity) primarily affected bacterial community similarity and successfully explained the divergent structure of a subset of samples. 16S rRNA amplicon pyrosequencing further revealed in Chapter 3 the identity of specific phyla that preferentially exist within certain habitats (i.e.&nbsp;Acidobacteria&nbsp;in alkaline soils,&nbsp;Nitrospira&nbsp;in mesic soils) suggesting the presence of niche specialists and spatial heterogeneity of taxa-specific functions (i.e. nitrite oxidation). Additionally, environmental parameters had different explanatory power towards predicting bacterial richness at varying taxonomic scales, from 57% of phylum-level richness with pH to 91% of order- and genus-level richness with moisture. Finally, Chapter 4 details a simultaneous sampling of soil communities and their associated ecosystem functions (primary productivity, enzymatic decomposition) and indicates that the overall organic substrate diversity may be greater in mesic soils where bacterial diversity is also highest, thus a potentially unforeseen driver of community dynamics. I also quantified annual rates of soil production which range between 0.7 - 18.1g C/m2/yr from the more arid to productive soils, respectively. In conclusion, the extension of biogeographical theory for macroorganisms has proven successful and both environmental severity and resource availability have obvious (although different) effects on the diversity and composition of soil microbial communities.</span></p></div></div></div><p>&nbsp;</p>10abiogeochemistry10abiogeography10aMcMurdo Dry Valleys10amicrobial ecology10aproductivity/diversity theory1 aGeyer, Kevin, M.1 aBarrett, John, E.  uhttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/6441705193nas a2200229   4500008004100000245009300041210006900134260004000203490000900243520447100252653002304723653001504746653001304761653002204774653000904796653001704805653002704822653002404849100002404873700002604897856004004923       2013                        eng d00aResource Legacies and Priming Regulate Microbial Communities in Antarctica's Dry Valleys0 aResource Legacies and Priming Regulate Microbial Communities in   aProvo, UTbBrigham Young University0 vM.S.3 a<p>Multiple mechanisms control bacterial community structure but two in particular, the &quot;legacy&quot; of past environmental conditions, and the &quot;priming&quot; of bacteria to respond to seasonal or reoccurring fluctuations in resources, have the potential to determine both bacterial communities, as well as, temporal shifts in active bacterial taxa. To begin to evaluate the legacy effects of resources on microbial communities, we added four limiting resources annually (i.e., water only; C-mannitol + water; N-NH4NO3 + water; and C, N + water) and measured shifts in bacterial community composition after seven years in a cold desert ecosystem in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Further, to investigate the ecological significance of priming, we conducted a series of stable isotope probing experiments (i.e., 18O-DNA SIP with 18O-labeled water, 13C-DNA SIP with 13C-labeled mannitol, 15N-DNA with 15N- NH4NO3, and a combined C and N SIP) and characterized the responding (i.e., isotopically labeled) and seed bank (i.e., unlabeled) bacterial communities. We performed each of the SIPs in soil microcosms corresponding to a single resource manipulation (e.g., 13C-labeled mannitol in C addition soils). We hypothesized that all long-term additions of nutrients and water will lead to a distinct bacterial community&mdash;a legacy effect due to the nutrient and water impoverished state of Antarctica soils. We also hypothesized that the stronger the legacy effects demonstrated by a specific community the more adapted or primed bacterial species will be to take advantage of the resource and respond. As hypothesized, resource additions created distinct bacterial legacy but to different degrees among the treatments. The extent of the resource legacy effects was greatest in the CN, intermediate in water and N, and lowest in C communities relative to the control communities, suggesting that C induced changes in communities were intensified by tandem N additions and that water alone created a more distinct legacy than water and C additions combined. Contrary to our hypothesis, the stronger the legacy effects, the less adapted or primed the community was to take advantage of resource additions. For example, the CN treatment that induced the greatest effect on bacterial communities had the lowest number of species (20.9%) in common between the responding and seed bank communities. This inverse relationship may be due to only two species (i.e., Arthrobacter, Actinobacteria and Massilia, Betaproteobacteria) really being primed to take advantage of CN and these species constituting over 75% of the seed bank community. Water, N, and C additions had similar levels of priming with 38.4%, 41.4%, and 36.3% of the responding species being present in the seed bank community, respectively. But of these three treatments, only the priming with water resulted in a unique responding community, suggesting that water, a universal bacterial resource, was enough to prime bacteria. Furthermore, water generates the most diverse responding community of all the resources with stemming from all of the fourteen dominant phyla. We did find patterns of ecological coherence among the responders, especially in the major responders (i.e., responders that increased in relative recovery by at least ten-fold). These responders were predominantly found in only three phyla (i.e., Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes, and Gammaproteobacteria) regardless of resource addition. Alternatively minor responders (i.e., responders that increased in relative recovery at least two-fold) were contained in fourteen different phyla with specific taxa stimulated by CN (i.e., Betaproteobacteria) and N and water (i.e., Deltaproteobacteria). Further, resource additions elicited responses from 37% of bacterial species with species specializing on a specific resource (e.g., Chloroflexi) or being a generalist (e.g., Planctomycetes and Gammaproteobacteria). Our results offer the first direct links between legacy and priming effects on bacterial community composition and demonstrate that these mechanisms are not always complimentary leading to the formation of similar communities but may both be essential to maintain the high levels of bacterial diversity. Further, all resources produced elicited responders that were either specialists of generalists demonstrating that even bacteria in the extreme environment of Antarctica respond to pulses of resources.</p>10a454 pyrosequencing10aAntarctica10abacteria10amicrobial ecology10asoil10asoil ecology10astable isotope probing10atarget metagenomics1 aSaurey, Sabrina, D.1 aAanderud, Zachary, T.  uhttp://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd6229