Microorganisms in the Accreted Ice of Lake Vostok, Antarctica
D. M. Karl,
1
D.
F. Bird,
2
K. Björkman,
1
T. Houlihan,
1
R. Shackelford,
1
L. Tupas
1
Analysis of a portion of Vostok ice core number 5G, which is
thought to contain frozen water derived from Lake Vostok, Antarctica (a
body of liquid water located beneath about 4 kilometers of glacial
ice), revealed between 2 × 102 and 3 × 102 bacterial cells per milliliter and low concentrations
of potential growth nutrients. Lipopolysaccharide (a Gram-negative
bacterial cell biomarker) was also detected at concentrations
consistent with the cell enumeration data, which suggests a
predominance of Gram-negative bacteria. At least a portion of the
microbial assemblage was viable, as determined by the respiration of
carbon-14-labeled acetate and glucose substrates during incubations at
3°C and 1 atmosphere. These accreted ice data suggest that Lake
Vostok may contain viable microorganisms.
1 School of Ocean and Earth Science and
Technology (SOEST), University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
2 Département des Sciences Biologiques,
Université du Quebec à Montreal, Casier Postal 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 3P8.
