Microbial communities (Eukaryotes and Bacteria) of transiently wetted vs. arid Antarctic Dry Valley soils

Study Extent

Samples were collected from the Miers Valley region of Antarctica during the summer months, including: MS1, Miers Stream 1 (S78°05.748′, E163°44.822′), a site located at the edge of the runoff stream flowing from Miers Glacier into Miers Lake in Miers Valley; ML1, Miers Lake 1 (S78°05.615′, E163°49.912′) located on the north side of Miers Lake; BL, Baby Buddha Lake (S78°03.621′, E163°46.463′), and NP, Nostoc Pond (S78°03.920′, E163°46.497′) adjacent to lake systems located over the north ridge of Miers Valley.

Sampling

Soil samples were collected aseptically at each site into sterile Whirl-Pak bags using a sterile metal spatula and kept frozen during transport to the laboratory.

Method steps

1. DNA was isolated from homogenized soil samples using the PowersoilTM DNA isolation kit (MOBIO) as per manufacturer’s instructions with all terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (T-RFLPs) based on pooled triplicate PCR assays.
2. Tagged amplicon pyrosequencing of the V1 to V3 region of the 16S and 18S rRNA gene (primer pairs 28F-519R and euk7F-euk570R, respectively) was performed on DNA extracts by the Research and Testing Laboratories located in Lubbock, TX (www.researchandtesting.com) using FLX technology (Roche).

Eukaryote (18S ssu rRNA marker gene) and Bacterial (16S ssu rRNA marker gene) microorganisms

1. Eukaryota
   common name: Eukaryotes rank: domain
2. Bacteria
   common name: Bacteria rank: domain

Sample pairs were taken from wet and dry soil near Miers stream, Nostoc pond, Miers lake and Buddha lake, in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica.