Survey of Functional Genes in the Arctic Soil

The objective of this study was to identify the different functional genes involved in key biogeochemical cycles in the low Arctic regions. Understanding the microbial diversity in the Arctic region is an important step to determine the effects of climate change on these areas. Soil samples were collected from low Arctic region of Salluit. At each sampling site five biological replicates were collected and DNA and RNA were subsequently extracted. The DNA and cDNA (synthesized from RNA samples) samples were shipped to the University of Oklahoma, where it was analyzed with the GeoChip microarray.