Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

New record of moss and thermophilic bacteria species and physico-chemical properties of geothermal soils on the northwest slope of Mt. Melbourne (Antarctica)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Four samples of surface soils, one with shoots of an unidentified moss species, were collected from a geothermal site on the northwest slope of volcanic Mt. Melbourne (northern Victoria Land, continental Antarctica) to determine physico-chemical properties, isolate existing strains of heterotrophic microorganisms, and identify the moss species through molecular genetic techniques. Surface soil features such as temperature, grain-size, pH, moisture content, and isolated genera of bacteria, generally corresponded to those previously reported for other geothermal sites in Victoria Land. However, when compared with chemical characteristics of warm substrata from these sites, soils from the northwest slope of Mt. Melbourne showed lower contents of total N and water-extractable PO 3−4 and K+, and relatively higher concentrations of Na, Fe, Mn, and of potentially toxic elements such as Cd and Pb. Preliminary results indicate that a new species of thermophilic bacteria growing in Fe-enriched medium was isolated. Although the study area lay only about 1.5 km from “Cryptogam Ridge”, a geothermal site in the rim of the Mt. Melbourne summit crater with a well-developed population of the moss Campylopus pyriformis, molecular genetic analyses showed that the moss on the volcano slope is Pohlia nutans, a species closely related to populations some 110 km to the north in the Mt. Rittmann fumaroles. It was concluded that physico-chemical features of geothermal grounds may affect the colonisation history and dispersal of microorganisms and mosses.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Armienti P, Tripodo A (1991) Petrography and chemistry of lavas and comagmatic xenoliths of Mount Rittmann, a volcano discovered during the IV Italian expedition in northern Victoria Land (Antarctica). Mem Soc Geol It 46:427–451

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargagli R, Broady PA, Walton DWH (1996) Preliminary investigation of the thermal biosystem of Mount Rittmann fumaroles (northern Victoria Land, Antarctica). Antarct Sci 8:121–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Bargagli R, Smith RIL, Martella L, Monaci F, Sanchez-Hernandez JC, Ugolini FC (1999) Solution geochemistry and behaviour of major and trace elements during summer in a moss community at Edmonson Point, Victoria Land, Antartica. Antarct Sci 11:3–12

    Google Scholar 

  • Broady PA (1984) Taxonomic and ecological investigations of algae on steam-warmed soil on Mt Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica. Phycologia 23:257–271

    Google Scholar 

  • Broady PA (1993) Soils heated by volcanism. In: Friedmann EI (ed) Antarctic microbiology. Wiley-Liss, New York, pp 413–432

  • Broady PA, Given D, Greenfield L, Thompson K (1987) The biota and environment of fumaroles on Mount Melbourne, Northern Victoria Land. Polar Biol 7:97–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Cole JR, Chai B, Marsh TL, Farris RJ, Wang Q, Kulam SA, Chandra S, McGarrell DM, Schmidt TM, Garrity GM, Tiedje JM (2003) The Ribosomal Database Project (RPD-II): previewing a new autoaligner that allows regular updates and the new prokaryotic taxonomy. Nucleic Acids Res 31:442–443

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gaudette HE, Flight WR, Toner L, Folger DW (1974) An inexpensive titration method for the determination of organic carbon in recent sediments. J Sed Petrol 44:249–253

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield LG (1983) Thermophilic fungi and actinomycetes from Mt. Erebus and a fungus pathogenic to Bryum antarcticum at Cape Bird. NZ Antarct Rec 4:10–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrington GJH (1958) Nomenclature of rock units in the Ross Sea region, Antarctica. Nature 182:290–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JA, Daniel RM (1988) Enumeration of thermophilic heterotrophs in geothermally heated soils from Mount Erebus, Ross Island, Antarctica. Appl Environ Microb 54:622–624

    Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JA, Daniel RM, Morgan HW (1988) Isolation of a strain of Bacillus schlegelii from geothermally heated Antarctic soil. FEMS Microbiol Lett 51:57–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hudson JA, Daniel RM, Morgan HW (1989) Acidophilic and thermophilic Bacillus strains from geothermally heated Antarctic soil. FEMS Microbiol Lett 60:279–282

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kyle PR (1990) Melbourne volcanic province. In: LeMasurier WE, Thomson JW (eds) Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. Antarctic Research Series, vol 48. American Geophysical Union, Washington, pp 48–52

  • Kyle PR, Cole JW (1974) Structural control of volcanism in the McMurdo Volcanic Group, Antarctica. Bull Vulcanol 38:16–25

    Google Scholar 

  • Logan NA, Lebbe L, Hoste B, Goris J, Forsyth G, Heyndrick M, Murray BL, Syme N, Wynn-Williams DD, De Vos P (2000) Aerobic endospore-forming bacteria from geothermal environments in northern Victoria Land, Antarctica, and Candlemas Island, South Sandwich Archipelago, with the proposal of Bacillus fumarioli sp nov. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50:1741–1753

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Melick D, Broady PA, Rowan KS (1991) Morphological and physiological characteristics of a non-heterocystous strain of M astigocladus laminosus Cohn from fumarolic soils on Mount Erebus, Antarctica. Polar Biol 11:81–89

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolaus B, Marsiglia F, Esposito E, Trincone A, Lama L, Sharp R, Di Prisco G, Gambacorta A (1991) Isolation of five strains of thermophilic eubacteria in Antartica. Polar Biol 11:425–429

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolaus B, Lama L, Esposito E, Manca MC, Di Prisco G, Gambacorta A (1996) Bacillus thermoantarcticus sp nov, from Mount Melbourne, Antartica: a novel thermophilic species. Polar Biol 16:101–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicolaus B, Improta R, Manca MC, Lama L, Esposito E, Gambacorta A (1998) Alicyclobacilli from an unexplored geothermal soil in Antarctica: Mount Rittmann. Polar Biol 19:133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearson WR, Lipman DJ (1988) Improved tools for biological sequence comparison. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 85:2444–2448

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Powers EM (1995) Efficacy of the Ryu nonstaining KOH technique for rapidly determining Gram reactions of food-borne and waterborne bacteria and yeasts. Appl Environ Microbiol 61:3756–3758

    Google Scholar 

  • Reddy GS, Aggarwal RK, Matsumoto GI, Shivaji S (2000) Arthrobacter flavus sp. nov., a psychrophilic bacterium isolated from a pond in McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 50:1553–1561

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shivaji S, Rao NS, Saisree L, Reddy GSN, Seshu KG, Bhargava PM (1989) Isolates of Arthrobacter from the soils of Schirmacher Oasis, Antarctica. Polar Biol 10:225–229

    Google Scholar 

  • Skotnicki ML, Selkirk PM, Ninham JA (1998) RAPD analysis of genetic variation and dispersal of the moss Bryum pseudotriquetrum from southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Polar Biol 20:121–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skotnicki ML, Ninham JA, Selkirk PM (2000) Genetic diversity, mutagenesis and dispersal of Antarctic mosses: a review of progress with molecular studies. Antarct Sci 12:363–373

    Google Scholar 

  • Skotnicki ML, Selkirk PM, Broady PA, Adam KD, Ninham JA (2001) Dispersal of the moss Campylopus pyriformis on geothermal ground near the summits of Mount Erebus and Mount Melbourne, Victoria Land, Antarctica. Antarct Sci 13:280–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Skotnicki ML, Bargagli R, Ninham JA (2002) Genetic diversity in the moss Pohlia nutans on geothermal ground of Mount Rittmann, Victoria Land, Antarctica. Polar Biol 25:771–777

    Google Scholar 

  • Smibert RM, Krieg NR (1981) General characterization. In: Gerhardt P, Murray RGE, Costilow RN, Nester EW, Wood WA, Krieg NR, Philips GB (eds) Manual of methods for general bacteriology. American Society for Microbiology, Washington, pp 411–442

  • Ugolini FC (1967) Soils of Mount Erebus, Antarctica. NZ J Geol Geophys 10:421–442

    Google Scholar 

  • White TJ, Bruns T, Lee S, Taylor J (1990) Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: Innis M, Gelfand D, Sninsky J, White T (eds) PCR protocols: a guide to methods and applications. Academic, San Diego, pp 315–322

  • Weisburg WG, Barns SM, Pelletier DA, Lane DJ (1991) 16S ribosomal DNA amplification for phylogenetic study. J Bacteriol 173:697–703

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wörner G, Vierek L (1990) Mont Melbourne. In: LeMasurier WE, Thomson JW (eds) Volcanoes of the Antarctic Plate and Southern Oceans. Antarctic Research Series, vol 48. American Geophysical Union, Washington, pp 72–78

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by funds from the PNRA (Programma Nazionale di Ricerche in Antartide), an Australian Antarctic Science Research Grant and the Hermon Slade Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Siena, Via P.A. Mattioli, 4, 53100, Siena, Italy

    R. Bargagli & C. Agnorelli

  2. Research School of Biological Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, A.C.T., 2601, Australia

    M. L. Skotnicki & A. Mackenzie

  3. Dipartimento di Biologia Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Siena, Siena, Italy

    L. Marri & M. Pepi

Authors
  1. R. Bargagli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. L. Skotnicki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. L. Marri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. M. Pepi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. A. Mackenzie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. C. Agnorelli
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Bargagli.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bargagli, R., Skotnicki, M.L., Marri, L. et al. New record of moss and thermophilic bacteria species and physico-chemical properties of geothermal soils on the northwest slope of Mt. Melbourne (Antarctica). Polar Biol 27, 423–431 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0612-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-004-0612-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation