Abstract
A detailed understanding of microbial ecology in different supraglacial habitats is important due to the unprecedented speed of glacier retreat. Differences in bacterial diversity and community structure between glacial snow and glacial soil on the Chongce Ice Cap were assessed using 454 pyrosequencing. Based on rarefaction curves, Chao1, ACE, and Shannon indices, we found that bacterial diversity in glacial snow was lower than that in glacial soil. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and heatmap analysis indicated that there were major differences in bacterial communities between glacial snow and glacial soil. Most bacteria were different between the two habitats; however, there were some common bacteria shared between glacial snow and glacial soil. Some rare or functional bacterial resources were also present in the Chongce Ice Cap. These findings provide a preliminary understanding of the shifts in bacterial diversity and communities from glacial snow to glacial soil after the melting and inflow of glacial snow into glacial soil.
Highlights
These results with multiple habitats have focused on aquatic environments
In this study, we aimed to compare the community structures of glacial snow and glacial soil using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of microbial samples collected from the Chongce Ice Cap
Our study provides a basis for the understanding of microbial ecology in different supraglacial habitats, which is important because of the unprecedented speed of glacier retreat
Summary
These results with multiple habitats have focused on aquatic environments. In glaciers, when temperatures rise above zero, large volumes of melt water are produced; this melt water first enters glacial soil and runs into moraine lakes or streams. Glacial soil may represent an important microbial source for the entire supraglacial system since it is connected with glacial snow and moraine lakes/streams. With the continuing glacial retreat, the interactions between bacterial communities in glacial snow and in glacial soil are becoming more significant. Information regarding unclassified sequences and functional genera in Chongce Ice Cap is still needed. This type of research is necessary to explore changes in microbial resources due to accelerated glacier retreat. In this study, we aimed to compare the community structures of glacial snow and glacial soil using 454 pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of microbial samples collected from the Chongce Ice Cap. We www.nature.com/scientificreports/. Our study provides a basis for the understanding of microbial ecology in different supraglacial habitats, which is important because of the unprecedented speed of glacier retreat
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