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

在南极麦克默多干谷的湖泊上，三到二十米厚的永久冰层包含着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。这个跨学科的研究项目将定义具体的过程，以允许(1)在永久冰中产生液态水（生命的基本要素），(2)在冷冻和解冻的条件下微生物种群的生存和结构，(3)改变冰晶栖息地物理属性的物质的生产，以及(4)向微生物种群提供营养，这不仅对生存至关重要，但是净微生物生长和生物量积累。这项工作将是在泰勒谷湖泊的永久冰盖中嵌入的冰聚集体，这在以前的研究中已经初步表征。对永久冰中的微生物的研究提供了冰生态系统中微生物生态学的信息，并有望具有生物技术意义。此外，这些研究将深入了解支持或曾经支持地球以外生命的条件，这些条件与目前存在于太阳系内外的水冰有关。

9815512 PRISCU 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.