DOI: 10.1073/pnas.97.3.1247. A habitat for psychrophiles in deep Antarctic ice

A habitat for psychrophiles in deep Antarctic ice

10.1073/pnas.97.3.1247

Crossref journal-article

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (341)

Abstract

Microbes, some of which may be viable, have been found in ice cores drilled at Vostok Station at depths down to ≈3,600 m, close to the surface of the huge subglacial Lake Vostok. Two types of ice have been found. The upper 3,500 m comprises glacial ice containing traces of nutrients of aeolian origin including sulfuric acid, nitric acid, methanosulfonic acid (MSA), formic acid, sea salts, and mineral grains. Ice below ≈3,500 m comprises refrozen water from Lake Vostok, accreted to the bottom of the glacial ice. Nutrients in the accretion ice include salts and dissolved organic carbon. There is great interest in searching for living microbes and especially for new species in deepest Antarctic ice. I propose a habitat consisting of interconnected liquid veins along three-grain boundaries in ice in which psychrophilic bacteria can move and obtain energy and carbon from ions in solution. In the accretion ice, with an age of a few 10 4 years and a temperature a few degrees below freezing, the carbon and energy sources in the veins can maintain significant numbers of cells per cubic centimeter that are metabolizing but not multiplying. In the 4 × 10 5 -year-old colder glacial ice, at least 1 cell per cm 3 in acid veins can be maintained. With fluorescence microscopy tuned to detect NADH in live organisms, motile bacteria could be detected by direct scanning of the veins in ice samples.

Bibliography

Price, P. B. (2000). A habitat for psychrophiles in deep Antarctic ice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97(3), 1247â1251.

Authors 1

P. Buford Price (first)

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Dates

Type	When
Created	23 years, 1 month ago (July 26, 2002, 10:40 a.m.)
Deposited	3 years, 4 months ago (April 13, 2022, 5:48 p.m.)
Indexed	2 weeks, 6 days ago (Aug. 6, 2025, 9:15 a.m.)
Issued	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 1, 2000)
Published	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 1, 2000)
Published Online	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 1, 2000)
Published Print	25 years, 6 months ago (Feb. 1, 2000)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Price_2000, title={A habitat for psychrophiles in deep Antarctic ice}, volume={97}, ISSN={1091-6490}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.97.3.1247}, DOI={10.1073/pnas.97.3.1247}, number={3}, journal={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, publisher={Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, author={Price, P. Buford}, year={2000}, month=feb, pages={1247–1251} }

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  "abstract": "<jats:p>\n            Microbes, some of which may be viable, have been found in ice cores\n drilled at Vostok Station at depths down to \u22483,600 m, close to the\n surface of the huge subglacial Lake Vostok. Two types of ice have been\n found. The upper 3,500 m comprises glacial ice containing traces of\n nutrients of aeolian origin including sulfuric acid, nitric acid,\n methanosulfonic acid (MSA), formic acid, sea salts, and mineral grains.\n Ice below \u22483,500 m comprises refrozen water from Lake Vostok,\n accreted to the bottom of the glacial ice. Nutrients in the accretion\n ice include salts and dissolved organic carbon. There is great interest\n in searching for living microbes and especially for new species in\n deepest Antarctic ice. I propose a habitat consisting of interconnected\n liquid veins along three-grain boundaries in ice in which psychrophilic\n bacteria can move and obtain energy and carbon from ions in solution.\n In the accretion ice, with an age of a few 10\n            <jats:sup>4</jats:sup>\n            years and a\n temperature a few degrees below freezing, the carbon and energy sources\n in the veins can maintain significant numbers of cells per cubic\n centimeter that are metabolizing but not multiplying. In the 4 \u00d7\n 10\n            <jats:sup>5</jats:sup>\n            -year-old colder glacial ice, at least 1 cell per\n cm\n            <jats:sup>3</jats:sup>\n            in acid veins can be maintained. With fluorescence\n microscopy tuned to detect NADH in live organisms, motile bacteria\n could be detected by direct scanning of the veins in ice samples.\n          </jats:p>",
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