Western GrIS snow biodiversity

Snow overlays the majority of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS). However, there is very little information available on the microbiological assemblages that are associated with this vast and climate-sensitive landscape. In this study, the structure and diversity of snow microbial assemblages from two regions of the western GrIS ice-margin were investigated through the sequencing of small subunit rRNA genes. Snow was found to contain a diverse assemblage of bacteria (Alphaproteobacteria, Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) and eukarya (Alveolata, Fungi, Stramenopiles and Viridiplantae). Phylotypes related to archaeal Thaumarchaeota and Euryarchaeota phyla were also identified. The structure of microbial assemblages was found to have strong similarities to communities sampled from marine and air environments, and sequences obtained from the South-West region, near Kangerlussuaq, which is bordered by an extensive periglacial expanse, had additional resemblances to soil originating communities. Strong correlations were found between bacterial beta diversity and Na+ and Cl- concentrations. These data suggest that surface snow from western regions of Greenland contain microbiota that are most likely derived from exogenous, wind transported sources.