Composition, diversity, and stability of microbial assemblages in seasonal lake ice, miquelon lake, central alberta.
BIOLOGY 2013;
2:514-32. [PMID:
24832796 PMCID:
PMC3960880 DOI:
10.3390/biology2020514]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2012] [Revised: 03/05/2013] [Accepted: 03/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The most familiar icy environments, seasonal lake and stream ice, have received little microbiological study. Bacteria and Eukarya dominated the microbial assemblage within the seasonal ice of Miquelon Lake, a shallow saline lake in Alberta, Canada. The bacterial assemblages were moderately diverse and did not vary with either ice depth or time. The closest relatives of the bacterial sequences from the ice included Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobia, and Cyanobacteria. The eukaryotic assemblages were less conserved and had very low diversity. Green algae relatives dominated the eukaryotic gene sequences; however, a copepod and cercozoan were also identified, possibly indicating the presence of complete microbial loop. The persistence of a chlorophyll a peak at 25–30 cm below the ice surface, despite ice migration and brine flushing, indicated possible biological activity within the ice. This is the first study of the composition, diversity, and stability of seasonal lake ice.
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