Microbial difference and its influencing factors in ice-covered lakes on the three poles

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 25;252(Pt 1):118753. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.118753. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTMost lakes in the world are permanently or seasonally covered with ice. However, little is known about the distribution of microbes and their influencing factors in ice-covered lakes worldwide. Here we analyzed the microbial community composition in the waters of 14 ice-covered lakes in the Hoh Xil region of northern Qing-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), and conducted a meta-analysis by integrating published microbial community data of ice-covered lakes in the tripolar regions (the Arctic, Antarctica and QTP). The results showed that there were significant differences in microbial diversity, community composition and distribution patterns in the ice-covered tripolar lakes. Microbial diversity and richness were lower in the ice-covered QTP lakes (including the studied lakes in the Hoh Xil region) than those in the Arctic and Antarctica. In the ice-covered lakes of Hoh Xil, prokaryotes are mainly involved in S-metabolic processes, making them more adaptable to extreme environmental conditions. In contrast, prokaryotes in the ice-covered lakes of the Arctic and Antarctica were predominantly involved in carbon/nitrogen metabolic processes. Deterministic (salinity and nutrients) and stochastic processes (dispersal limitation, homogenizing dispersal and drift) jointly determine the geographical distribution patterns of microorganisms in ice-covered lakes, with stochastic processes domi...

Source: Environmental Research - March 25, 2024 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Min Cai Beichen Wang Jibin Han Jian Yang Xiying Zhang Xiangyu Guan Hongchen Jiang Source Type: research