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Halophilic-psychrotrophic bacteria of an Alaskan cryopeg—a model for astrobiology

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Abstract

Cryopegs, lenses of hypersaline unfrozen soil or water within permafrost, are a model for astrobiology, since free water can only be present on cryogenic bodies and planets in the form of brine. In this paper the diversity of aerobic halophilic-psychrotrophic microorganisms from an Alaskan cryopeg (Barrow Cape) were studied and described for the first time. This cryopeg is characterized by a constant subzero temperature (–7°C), high salinity (total mineralization is about 120 g/L) and isolation from external influences for a geologically significant period of time. Our study has revealed a large number of microorganisms capable of growth at low temperature (4°C) in a wide range of salinities from 5 to 250 g/L of NaCl, the latter being 3 times higher than the natural salt concentration of the Alaskan cryopeg. The microorganisms identified are comprised of four major phyla: Actinobacteria (genera Brevibacterium, Citricoccus, Microbacterium), Firmicutes (genus Paenibacillus), Bacteroidetes (genus Sphingobacterium), and Proteobacteria (genus Ochrobactrum).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems of Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, 142290, Russia

    E. V. Spirina, E. V. Durdenko, N. E. Demidov, A. A. Abramov & E. M. Rivkina

  2. Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, 903 N Koyukuk Dr, Fairbanks, AK, 99709, USA

    V. E. Romanovsky

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  1. E. V. Spirina
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  2. E. V. Durdenko
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  3. N. E. Demidov
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  4. A. A. Abramov
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  6. E. M. Rivkina
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Spirina, E.V., Durdenko, E.V., Demidov, N.E. et al. Halophilic-psychrotrophic bacteria of an Alaskan cryopeg—a model for astrobiology. Paleontol. J. 51, 1440–1452 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0031030117120036

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