Microbial Diversity and Function in the Permanently Ice-Covered-Lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica This NSF-sponsored project is a study of prokaryotic organisms within the permanently ice-covered lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, with the objective of identifying and characterizing novel organisms and elucidating those aspects of their genome and metabolism that are critical to understand their role in biogeochemical cycles. Steve Giovannoni during a recent stay in Antarctica Specifically, the study will use molecular tools in concert with conventional and high throughput culturing techniques to define representative prokaryotic groups responsible for the contemporary redox couples and geochemical gradients that exist in these lakes. The data will be integrated with prokaryotic based exoenzyme signatures and physiological traits to link prokaryotic diversity with ecosystem function. A primary reason for establishing a Microbial Observatory for these lakes is to understand not just how the environment controls the diversity of organisms, but also how diversity itself controls the functioning of ecosystems. The McMurdo Dry Valley lake systems lend themselves to answer these questions in a unique way. Given the isolation, the lack of metazoans, and the evolutionary history and resultant geochemistry of these lakes, they offer a unique experimental arena to search for novel microorganisms and study the interplay of microbial diversity and ecosystem function. This project is being conducted in collaboration with Drs. John Priscu, Michael Madigan, and Brian Lanoil. This project has also received support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Genomics of Oceanic Bacteria | Impact of Pelagibacter on DOM composition | Sargasso Sea Microbial Observatory High Throughput Microbial Cultivation | SAR11 | Ocean Lithosphere | Microbial Ecology of Hypoxic Zones | McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica Genomic Sequencing of Marine Bacterial Isolates