Ultrastructural and single-cell-level characterization reveals metabolic versatility in a microbial eukaryote community from an ice-covered Antarctic lake

Wei Li, Mircea Podar, Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss

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28 Scopus citations

Abstract

The McMurdo Dry Valleys (MCM) of southern Victoria Land, Antarctica, harbor numerous ice-covered bodies of water that provide year-round liquid water oases for isolated food webs dominated by the microbial loop. Single-cell microbial eukaryotes (protists) occupy major trophic positions within this truncated food web, ranging from primary producers (e.g., chlorophytes, haptophytes, and cryptophytes) to tertiary predators (e.g., ciliates, dinoflagellates, and choanoflagellates). To advance the understanding of MCM protist ecology and the roles of MCM protists in nutrient and energy cycling, we investigated potential metabolic strategies and microbial interactions of key MCM protists isolated from a well-described lake (Lake Bonney). Fluorescenceactivated cell sorting (FACS) of enrichment cultures, combined with single amplified genome/amplicon sequencing and fluorescence microscopy, revealed that MCM protists possess diverse potential metabolic capabilities and interactions. Two metabolically distinct bacterial clades (Flavobacteria and Methylobacteriaceae) were independently associated with two key MCM lake microalgae (Isochrysis and Chlamydomonas, respectively). We also report on the discovery of two heterotrophic nanoflagellates belonging to the Stramenopila supergroup, one of which lives as a parasite of Chlamydomonas, a dominate primary producer in the shallow, nutrient-poor layers of the lake.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3659-3670
Number of pages12
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume82
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 1 2016

Funding

This work, including the efforts of Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss, was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) (1056396).

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation
Directorate for Geosciences1056396

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