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Soils of the Ross Sea Region, Metagenomics of

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Encyclopedia of Metagenomics

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Synonyms

Antarctica; Metagenomic analysis of soils of the Ross Sea region

Definition

The application of metagenomic approaches unravels the diversity of bacteria in soils of the Ross Sea region of Antarctica.

Introduction

Soils of the Ross Sea region (RSR) of Antarctica are among the least understood ecosystems on Earth. They are cold desert soils characterized by extremely low soil temperatures, with an average mean annual temperature between −15 °C and −40 °C, and low soil moisture. Soil diversity in the Ross Sea region is influenced primarily by longitude (distance from the coast), elevation, proximity to streams and ponds, and age of soil parent materials (Bockheim 2008). Soil evolution involves melting and sublimation of ice in freshly deposited materials, accumulation of salts from atmospheric deposition, and further breakdown from salt weathering (Bockheim and McLeod 2008).

The low temperatures, low available water and humidity, abundant freeze-thaw cycles, and sometimes high...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Landcare Research, University of Waikato, Gate 10 Silverdale Road, 3216, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Jackie Aislabie

  2. Soil Science, University of Wisconsin, 53706-1299, Madison, WI, USA

    James G. Bockheim

Authors
  1. Jackie Aislabie
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  2. James G. Bockheim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jackie Aislabie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Genomic Medicine, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Sarah K. Highlander

  2. Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Campus San Juan, San Juan, Alicante, Spain

    Francisco Rodriguez-Valera

  3. The Institute for Genomic Biology Department of Animal Sciences & Pathobiology Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA

    Bryan A. White

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© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Aislabie, J., Bockheim, J.G. (2015). Soils of the Ross Sea Region, Metagenomics of. In: Highlander, S.K., Rodriguez-Valera, F., White, B.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Metagenomics. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-7475-4_139

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