AUTHOR=Kohler Tyler J. , Vinšová Petra , Falteisek Lukáš , Žárský Jakub D. , Yde Jacob C. , Hatton Jade E. , Hawkings Jon R. , Lamarche-Gagnon Guillaume , Hood Eran , Cameron Karen A. , Stibal Marek TITLE=Patterns in Microbial Assemblages Exported From the Meltwater of Arctic and Sub-Arctic Glaciers JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.00669 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.00669 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
Meltwater streams connect the glacial cryosphere with downstream ecosystems. Dissolved and particulate matter exported from glacial ecosystems originates from contrasting supraglacial and subglacial environments, and exported microbial cells have the potential to serve as ecological and hydrological indicators for glacial ecosystem processes. Here, we compare exported microbial assemblages from the meltwater of 24 glaciers from six (sub)Arctic regions – the southwestern Greenland Ice Sheet, Qeqertarsuaq (Disko Island) in west Greenland, Iceland, Svalbard, western Norway, and southeast Alaska – differing in their lithology, catchment size, and climatic characteristics, to investigate spatial and environmental factors structuring exported meltwater assemblages. We found that 16S rRNA gene sequences of all samples were dominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria, with Verrucomicrobia also common in Greenland localities. Clustered OTUs were largely composed of aerobic and anaerobic heterotrophs capable of degrading a wide variety of carbon substrates. A small number of OTUs dominated all assemblages, with the most abundant being from the genera