Snow surface microbiome on the high Antarctic Plateau (DOME C) Targeted Locus (Loci)

The cryosphere is an integral part of the global climate system and one of the major habitable ecosystems of Earth’s biosphere. These permanently frozen environments harbor diverse, viable and metabolically active microbial populations that represent almost all the major phylogenetic groups. In this study, we investigated the microbial diversity in the surface snow surrounding the Concordia Research Station on the High Antarctic Plateau through a polyphasic approach, including direct prokaryotic quantification by flow cytometry and catalyzed reporter deposition fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH), and phylogenetic identification by 16s RNA gene clone library Sanger sequencing and 454 16S amplicon pyrosequencing. The microbial community was largely composed of Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Bacteroidetes. The presence of both photo- and chemo-autotrophs, possibly organized in thin biofilm-like structures, suggested moderate microbiological activity. Thus, microorganisms could not only be considered as deposited airborne particles, but as an active part of the snowpack ecology of the High Antarctic Plateau.