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The prokaryotic community of subglacial bottom sediments of Antarctic Lake Untersee: Detection by cultural and direct microscopic techniques

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Abstract

The heterotrophic mesophilic microbial component was studied in microbial communities of the samples of frozen regolith collected from the glacier near Lake Untersee collected in 2011 during the joint Russian-American expedition to central Dronning Maud Land (Eastern Antarctica). Cultural techniques revealed high bacterial numbers in the samples. For enumeration of viable cells, the most probable numbers (MPN) method proved more efficient than plating on agar media. Fluorescent in situ hybridization with the relevant oligonucleotide probes revealed members of the groups Eubacteria (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes) and Archaea. The application of the methods of cell resuscitation, such as the use of diluted media and prevention of oxidative stress, did not result in a significant increase in the numbers of viable cells retrieved from subglacial sediment samples. Our previous investigations demonstrated the necessity for special procedures for efficient reactivation of the cells from microbial communities of replace with buried soil and permafrost samples collected in the Arctic zone. The differing responses to the special resuscitation procedures may reflect the differences in the physiological and morphological state of bacterial cells in microbial communities subject to continuous or periodic low temperatures and dehydration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. 60-letiya Oktyabrya 7, k. 2, Moscow, 117312, Russia

    A. L. Mulyukin, E. V. Demkina & V. F. Gal’chenko

  2. Department of Soil Biology, Faculty of Soil Science, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    N. A. Manucharova

  3. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, pr. Nauki 5, Pushchino, Moscow oblast, 142290, Russia

    V. N. Akimov

  4. Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, Mountain View, CA, USA

    D. Andersen

  5. MS-245-3, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA

    C. McKay

Authors
  1. A. L. Mulyukin
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  2. E. V. Demkina
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  3. N. A. Manucharova
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  4. V. N. Akimov
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  5. D. Andersen
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  6. C. McKay
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  7. V. F. Gal’chenko
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Correspondence to A. L. Mulyukin.

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Original Russian Text © A.L. Mulyukin, E.V. Demkina, N.A. Manucharova, V.N. Akimov, D. Andersen, C. McKay, V.F. Gal’chenko, 2014, published in Mikrobiologiya, 2014, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 215–224.

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Mulyukin, A.L., Demkina, E.V., Manucharova, N.A. et al. The prokaryotic community of subglacial bottom sediments of Antarctic Lake Untersee: Detection by cultural and direct microscopic techniques. Microbiology 83, 77–84 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026261714020143

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