Chinese Journal of Polar Research ›› 2023, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (3): 405-414.DOI: 10.13679/j.jdyj.20220422

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Microbial diversity in colored snow of Ny-Ålesund, Arctic

Han Wei1Yuan Yiyang2Li Taiyu1Zeng Yinxin1, Li Huirong1Luo Wei1   

  1. 1Key Laboratory of Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai 200136, China;
    2WLSA Shanghai Academy, Shanghai 200433, China
  • Online:2023-09-30 Published:2023-09-30

Abstract:

The extreme environment of the Arctic region is inhabited by numerous independent stress-resistant microbial communities. During snowmelt, algae at the snow ice interface multiply to form colored snow. To understand this specifc ecosystem, this study isolated and cultured bacteria from colored snow and white snow of Ny-Ålesund in the Arctic, sequenced their 16S rRNA genes, and analyzed algal diversity in snow samples. In total, we isolated 272 bacterial strains, belonging to Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteriodetes and Firmicutes in 32 genera and 74 species, including 16 strains belonging to potentially new species. Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes were successfully isolated and cultured from colored snow, but not from white snow. In colored snow, the algal communities were dominated by Sanguina nivaloides and Chloromonas nivalis, whereas the white snow communities were dominated by Monochrysis sp. and Sanguina nivaloides. The dominant betaproteobacteria in orange snow mainly related to Chlamydomonas and mutually promoted the growth of the other communities. The results showed that microbial diversity in colored snowed from the Ny-Ålesund region was high, which provided fundamental information on algal-bacterial association in colored-snow habitats.

Key words:

Arctic, colored snow, culturable bacteria, diversity, snow algae