Diversity and genomics of Antarctic marine micro-organisms

Marine bacterioplanktons are thought to play a vital role in Southern Ocean ecology and ecosystem function, as they do in other ocean systems. However, our understanding of phylogenetic diversity, genome-enabled capabilities and specific adaptations to this persistently cold environment is limited....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences 2007-12, Vol.362 (1488), p.2259-2271
Main Authors: Murray, Alison E, Grzymski, Joseph J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Antarctic Bacterioplankton
Antarctic Regions
Archaea
Archaea - genetics
Bacteria
Bacteria - genetics
Bacterioplankton
Bacterioplankton Diversity
Biodiversity
Crenarchaeota
Genome, Archaeal
Genome, Bacterial
Genomes
Genomics
Libraries
Marine
Marine Bacteria
Marine ecosystems
Marine Microbial Genomics
Oceans
Phylogeny
Plankton - genetics
Polaribacter irgensii
RNA, Ribosomal - genetics
rRNA genes
Sea ice
Sea water
Southern Ocean
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Summary:Marine bacterioplanktons are thought to play a vital role in Southern Ocean ecology and ecosystem function, as they do in other ocean systems. However, our understanding of phylogenetic diversity, genome-enabled capabilities and specific adaptations to this persistently cold environment is limited. Bacterioplankton community composition shifts significantly over the annual cycle as sea ice melts and phytoplankton bloom. Microbial diversity in sea ice is better known than that of the plankton, where culture collections do not appear to represent organisms detected with molecular surveys. Broad phylogenetic groupings of Antarctic bacterioplankton such as the marine group I Crenarchaeota, α-Proteobacteria (Roseobacter-related and SAR-11 clusters), γ-Proteobacteria (both cultivated and uncultivated groups) and Bacteriodetes-affiliated organisms in Southern Ocean waters are in common with other ocean systems. Antarctic SSU rRNA gene phylotypes are typically affiliated with other polar sequences. Some species such as Polaribacter irgensii and currently uncultivated γ-Proteobacteria (Ant4D3 and Ant10A4) may flourish in Antarctic waters, though further studies are needed to address diversity on a larger scale. Insights from initial genomics studies on both cultivated organisms and genomes accessed through shotgun cloning of environmental samples suggest that there are many unique features of these organisms that facilitate survival in high-latitude, persistently cold environments.
ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2006.1944