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

9814294 RAYMOND在南极洲麦克默多干谷的湖泊上，三到二十米厚的永久冰层含有与沉积物聚集体相关的活微生物细胞。 这些聚集体现在被认为是在冰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。 这一跨学科的研究计划将确定具体的过程，使（1）创造液态水（生命的基本要素），（2）经历冻融的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;（4）为微生物种群提供营养，这不仅是生存所必需的，而且是微生物净生长和生物量积累所必需的。 这项工作将是对嵌入在泰勒谷湖泊永久冰盖内的冰聚集体的研究，这些冰聚集体在以前的研究中已被初步定性。 对永久冰中微生物的研究提供了冰生态系统中微生物生态学的信息，并有望产生生物技术影响。 此外，这些研究将提供对条件的深入了解，这些条件支持或支持我们自己的星球以外的生命，与目前存在于我们自己的太阳系内外的水冰有关。

9814294 RAYMOND Three to twenty meter thick permanent ice covers on lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctic contain viable microbial cells in association with 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.