02238nas a2200205 4500008004100000245004700041210004700088260004800135490001000183520164300193653001501836653002901851653002201880653001901902653001001921653001001931100002601941700001701967856004801984 2023 eng d00aMicrobial life in challenging environments0 aMicrobial life in challenging environments aBoulder, CObUniversity of Colorado Boulder0 vPh.D.3 a

Microorganisms are nearly ubiquitous on Earth, but the identity and function of microbial communities are inherently dependent on the properties of the specific environment in question. Here, I have studied soils around the world to answer questions about how the functional attributes of microorganisms allow them to respond to challenging environmental conditions. First, I explore how microbial communities in soils change across environmental gradients in Antarctica. I show that microbes in Antarctic surface soils are most restricted by low temperatures, low water availability, and high concentrations of salt. Microbial communities near the polar plateau, the most challenging environment, are dominated by Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi, and are enriched in genes associated with the oxidation of hydrogen gas as an energy source. Second, I show that the earliest microbial colonizers of a newly-formed volcanic island in the Kingdom of Tonga are chemolithotrophs that appear to have come from nearby geothermal systems. While many of these microbes utilize sulfur as an energy source, the most abundant organisms have genes that indicate they can oxidize trace gases including carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Finally, I show that organisms associated with carbon limited subsurface soils tend to have smaller genomes, grow more slowly, and have more gene pathways associated with metabolism and the storage of carbon. Taken together, these studies shed light on microbial survival in challenging soil environments and show the varied ways in which microbial communities interact with and are affected by their surroundings.

10aAntarctica10aenvironmental conditions10amicrobial ecology10amicroorganisms10asoils10atonga1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aFierer, Noah uhttps://www.proquest.com/docview/281473420902367nas a2200289 4500008004100000245011400041210006900155260001200224300001400236490000600250520147700256653001501733653002201748653002201770653001001792100002601802700002401828700002701852700002101879700001801900700001701918700002001935700001701955700001701972700002401989856006402013 2022 eng d00aElevational constraints on the composition and genomic attributes of microbial communities in Antarctic soils0 aElevational constraints on the composition and genomic attribute c01/2022 ae01330-210 v73 a

The inland soils found on the Antarctic continent represent one of the more challenging environments for microbial life on Earth. Nevertheless, Antarctic soils harbor unique bacterial and archaeal (prokaryotic) communities able to cope with extremely cold and dry conditions. These communities are not homogeneous, and the taxonomic composition and functional capabilities (genomic attributes) of these communities across environmental gradients remain largely undetermined. We analyzed the prokaryotic communities in soil samples collected from across the Shackleton Glacier region of Antarctica by coupling quantitative PCR, marker gene amplicon sequencing, and shotgun metagenomic sequencing. We found that elevation was the dominant factor explaining differences in the structures of the soil prokaryotic communities, with the drier and saltier soils found at higher elevations harboring less diverse communities and unique assemblages of cooccurring taxa. The higher-elevation soil communities also had lower maximum potential growth rates (as inferred from metagenome-based estimates of codon usage bias) and an overrepresentation of genes associated with trace gas metabolism. Together, these results highlight the utility of assessing community shifts across pronounced environmental gradients to improve our understanding of the microbial diversity found in Antarctic soils and the strategies used by soil microbes to persist at the limits of habitability.

10aAntarctica10amicrobial ecology10asoil microbiology10asoils1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aHenley, Jessica, B.1 aHolland-Moritz, Hannah1 aDiaz, Melisa, A.1 aHogg, Ian, D.1 aLyons, Berry1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aAdams, Byron1 aFierer, Noah1 aMackelprang, Rachel uhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/msystems.01330-2102600nas a2200217 4500008004100000245010600041210006900147260001200216490000700228520191500235653001502150653001802165653001602183653002202199653001702221100002202238700001702260700002102277700001702298856006702315 2021 eng d00aAntarctic water tracks: Microbial community responses to variation in soil moisture, pH, and salinity0 aAntarctic water tracks Microbial community responses to variatio c01/20210 v123 a

Ice-free soils in the McMurdo Dry Valleys select for taxa able to cope with challenging environmental conditions, including extreme chemical water activity gradients, freeze-thaw cycling, desiccation, and solar radiation regimes. The low biotic complexity of Dry Valley soils makes them well suited to investigate environmental and spatial influences on bacterial community structure. Water tracks are annually wetted habitats in the cold-arid soils of Antarctica that form briefly each summer with moisture sourced from snow melt, ground ice thaw, and atmospheric deposition via deliquescence and vapor flow into brines. Compared to neighboring arid soils, water tracks are highly saline and relatively moist habitats. They represent a considerable area (∼5–10 km2) of the Dry Valley terrestrial ecosystem, an area that is expected to increase with ongoing climate change. The goal of this study was to determine how variation in the environmental conditions of water tracks influences the composition and diversity of microbial communities. We found significant differences in microbial community composition between on- and off-water track samples, and across two distinct locations. Of the tested environmental variables, soil salinity was the best predictor of community composition, with members of the Bacteroidetes phylum being relatively more abundant at higher salinities and the Actinobacteria phylum showing the opposite pattern. There was also a significant, inverse relationship between salinity and bacterial diversity. Our results suggest water track formation significantly alters dry soil microbial communities, likely influencing subsequent ecosystem functioning. We highlight how Dry Valley water tracks could be a useful model system for understanding the potential habitability of transiently wetted environments found on the surface of Mars.

10aAntarctica10aextremophiles10aMars analog10amicrobial ecology10awater tracks1 aGeorge, Scott, F.1 aFierer, Noah1 aLevy, Joseph, S.1 aAdams, Byron uhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.61673002506nas a2200289 4500008004100000022001400041245006300055210006300118260001200181490000800193520169900201653001501900653001701915653001301932653001801945653001001963653001001973100002601983700002102009700001802030700001702048700002002065700002002085700002102105700001702126856007302143 2021 eng d a2169-895300aExploring the boundaries of microbial habitability in soil0 aExploring the boundaries of microbial habitability in soil c06/20210 v1263 a

Microbes are widely assumed to be capable of colonizing even the most challenging terrestrial surface environments on Earth given enough time. We would not expect to find surface soils uninhabited by microbes as soils typically harbor diverse microbial communities and viable microbes have been detected in soils exposed to even the most inhospitable conditions. However, if uninhabited soils do exist, we might expect to find them in Antarctica. We analyzed 204 ice-free soils collected from across a remote valley in the Transantarctic Mountains (84–85°S, 174–177°W) and were able to identify a potential limit of microbial habitability. While most of the soils we tested contained diverse microbial communities, with fungi being particularly ubiquitous, microbes could not be detected in many of the driest, higher elevation soils—results that were confirmed using cultivation-dependent, cultivation-independent, and metabolic assays. While we cannot confirm that this subset of soils is completely sterile and devoid of microbial life, our results suggest that microbial life is severely restricted in the coldest, driest, and saltiest Antarctic soils. Constant exposure to these conditions for thousands of years has limited microbial communities so that their presence and activity is below detectable limits using a variety of standard methods. Such soils are unlikely to be unique to the studied region with this work supporting previous hypotheses that microbial habitability is constrained by near-continuous exposure to cold, dry, and salty conditions, establishing the environmental conditions that limit microbial life in terrestrial surface soils.

10aAntarctica10aastrobiology10abacteria10aextremophiles10afungi10asoils1 aDragone, Nicholas, B.1 aDiaz, Melisa, A.1 aHogg, Ian, D.1 aLyons, Berry1 aJackson, Andrew1 aWall, Diana, H.1 aAdams, Byron, J.1 aFierer, Noah uhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2020JG006052