Collaborative Research: Microbial Life within the Extreme Environment Posed by Permanent Antarctic Lake Ice

9814972南极麦克默多干燥河谷湖泊上的弗里森冰层厚度为3到20米，覆盖着可存活的微生物细胞和沉积物聚集体。这些聚集体现在被认为是在冰川环境固有的极端条件下，物理、化学和生物相互作用促进微生物生长的场所。这一跨学科研究计划将确定具体的过程，允许(1)在永久冰中产生液态水(生命的基本要素)，(2)冻结和融化微生物种群的生存和结构，(3)产生改变冰晶栖息地物理属性的物质，以及(4)向微生物种群提供营养，这不仅对生存，而且对微生物净生长和生物量积累都是至关重要的。这项工作将是关于嵌入泰勒河谷湖泊永久冰盖中的冰聚集体，这在以前的研究中已经初步确定了特征。对永久冰中微生物的研究提供了关于冰生态系统中微生物生态的信息，并有望具有生物技术意义。此外，这些研究将提供对支持或曾经支持我们星球外生命的条件的洞察，这些条件与目前存在于我们太阳系内外的水冰有关。

9814972 FRITSEN Three to twenty meter thick permanent ice covers on lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctic contain viable microbial cells in association wit sediment aggregates. These aggregates are now recognized as sites where physical, chemical and biological interactions promote microbial growth under extreme conditions inherent to the ice environment. This interdisciplinary research program will define specific processes which allow (1) the creation of liquid water (the essential element for life) in the permanent ice, (2) the survival and structuring of microbial populations subjected to freezing and thawing, (3) the production of substances which alter the physical attributes of the ice crystal habitat and (4) nutrient supply to the microbial populations which is essential for not only survival, but net microbial growth and biomass accumulation. The work will be on ice aggregates embedded within the permanent ice covers on the lakes in the Taylor Valley, which have been tentatively characterized in previous studies. Research on microbes in permanent ice provides information on the ecology of microbes in ice ecosystems and promises to have biotechnological implications. Furthermore, these studies will provide insights into the conditions, which support or have supported life beyond our own planet in association with water ice which is currently present within and beyond our own solar system.