USAP-DC

The McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are among the coldest, driest habitats on the planet. Previous research has documented the presence of surprisingly diverse microbial communities in the soils of the Dry Valleys despite these extreme conditions. However, the degree to which these organisms are active is unknown; it is possible that much of this diversity reflects microbes that have blown into this environment that are subsequently preserved in these cold, dry conditions. This research will use modern molecular techniques to answer a fundamental question regarding these communities: which organisms are active and how do they live in such extreme conditions? The research will include manipulations to explore how changes in water, salt and carbon affect the microbial community, to address the role that these organisms play in nutrient cycling in this environment. The results of this work will provide a broader understanding of how life adapts to such extreme conditions as well as the role of dormancy in the life history of microorganisms. Results will be widely disseminated through publications as well as through presentations at national and international meetings; raw data will be made available through a high-profile web-based portal. The research will support two graduate students, two undergraduate research assistants and a postdoctoral fellow. The results will be incorporated into a webinar targeted to secondary and post-secondary educators and a complimentary hands-on class activity kit will be developed and made available to various teacher and outreach organizations.

Person	Role
Takacs-Vesbach, Cristina	Investigator
Schwartz, Egbert	Investigator
Van Horn, David	Co-Investigator

Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems	Award # 1142102
Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems	Award # 1142096

NSF-ANT11-42102
NSF-ANT11-42096

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
NCBI GenBank	NCBI GenBank RNA sequences	None	exist
NCBI GenBank	GenBank. Accession # PRJNA232062,PRJNA228947,PRJNA228945	None	exist
LTER	McMurdo Dry Valleys LTER Genetic/Genomic Data Resource	None	exist

1. Buelow, H. N., Winter, A. S., Van Horn, D. J., Barrett, J. E., Gooseff, M. N., Schwartz, E., & Takacs-Vesbach, C. D. (2016). Microbial Community Responses to Increased Water and Organic Matter in the Arid Soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7. (doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.01040)
2. Bell-Dereske, L., Takacs-Vesbach, C., Kivlin, S. N., Emery, S. M., & Rudgers, J. A. (2017). Leaf endophytic fungus interacts with precipitation to alter belowground microbial communities in primary successional dunes. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 93(6). (doi:10.1093/femsec/fix036)
3. Papp, K., Hungate, B. A., & Schwartz, E. (2018). Microbial rRNA Synthesis and Growth Compared through Quantitative Stable Isotope Probing with H218O. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 84(8), e02441–17. (doi:10.1128/aem.02441-17)
4. Papp, K., Hungate, B. A., & Schwartz, E. (2019). mRNA, rRNA and DNA quantitative stable isotope probing with H218O indicates use of old rRNA among soil Thaumarchaeota. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 130, 159–166. (doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2018.12.016)
5. Fountain, A. G., Levy, J. S., Gooseff, M. N., & Van Horn, D. (2014). The McMurdo Dry Valleys: A landscape on the threshold of change. Geomorphology, 225, 25–35. (doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.03.044)
6. Schwartz, E., Van Horn, D. J., Buelow, H. N., Okie, J. G., Gooseff, M. N., Barrett, J. E., & Takacs-Vesbach, C. D. (2014). Characterization of growing bacterial populations in McMurdo Dry Valley soils through stable isotope probing with18O-water. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 89(2), 415–425. (doi:10.1111/1574-6941.12349)
7. Davis, S. N., Torres, C. R., Musser, G. M., Proffitt, J. V., Crouch, N. M. A., Lundelius, E. L., … Clarke, J. A. (2020). New mammalian and avian records from the late Eocene La Meseta and Submeseta formations of Seymour Island, Antarctica. PeerJ, 8, e8268. (doi:10.7717/peerj.8268)