A new study has revealed that Antarctic soil contains unique microbes not found anywhere else on the planet, challenging the prevailing assumption in microbiology that "everything is everywhere".
Unlike animals and plants, microbes can spread over long distances via air and ocean currents, but researchers believed that Antarctica, being the most isolated and extreme continent on Earth, might be the ideal place to search for endemic microbes found nowhere else.
The team, led by researcher Nick Dragon, chose to focus on strains of Arthrobacter bacteria because they are common in the soil of Antarctica and other areas such as Colorado and tropical regions, and can be easily grown in the laboratory.
The team conducted their research in two phases: First, they sequenced the genomes of Arthrobacter strains found in Antarctic soil samples and compared them to strains from around the world using public databases. They found that 90% of the Antarctic strains were unique and found nowhere else. Second, they cultured these strains in the lab and simulated the harsh conditions of Antarctica (extreme cold and drought). They found that the Antarctic strains grew slowly but were remarkably resilient, demonstrating their unique adaptation to the polar environment.
Byron Adams, a biology professor at Brigham Young University and co-author of the study, said: "We tend to think of biodiversity in terms of penguins, seals, and whales, but this shows that some of Antarctica's most distinctive species are microbial. Protecting Antarctic biodiversity also means protecting the biological history found in a handful of soil."
Noah Ferrier, director of the Microbial Exploration Centre and a co-author of the study, added: "We already knew that a wide range of microbes could survive in Antarctica's harsh conditions, but now we know that some of these microbes are unique to Antarctica and uniquely adapted to life on the southern continent."
These findings have opened the door to future research on microbial life in Antarctica, and confirmed that the continent’s biodiversity is not limited to the large animals we see on the surface.
These results were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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