Communities of microorganisms at the bottom of polar lakes evolved independently from other regions, influenced by the particular geological, biological and climate history of their regions.
Communities of microorganisms at the bottom of polar lakes evolved independently from other regions, influenced by the particular geological, biological and climate history of their regions. The unique character of the microbial communities underscores the urgent need for the inclusion of these lifeforms in management plans for the polar regions.
An international research team of scientists led by biologists from Ghent University, Belgium, with Professor Dominic Hodgson at British Antarctic Survey have sampled and sequenced the biodiversity and evolutionary history of microorganisms in over 200 Arctic, sub-Antarctic, and Antarctic lakes.
The new study shows striking differences in the composition of the microbial communities between the polar regions, with lakes at the North and South Poles being dominated by different groups. Their work is the first large-scale DNA study of these unique microbiomes, and was published in the journal Science Advances.
Read more at: British Antarctic Survey
High latitude benthic microbial mat in Skarvsnes, East Antarctica. (Photo Credit: S Kudoh)
