Novel opportunity for understanding origin and evolution of life: perspectives on the exploration of subglacial environment of Lake Vostok, Antarctica

Abstract

The year 2012 began with reports on the completion of drilling over the largest subglacial lake of Antarctica, Lake Vostok. It has been sealed from free exchange with the atmosphere for ∼420,000 years, making it a potentially rich and largely unexplored storehouse of genetic information for solving evolutionary queries. Indirect evidence suggests that many impediments exist in the subglacial environment, such as high oxygen tension, low inorganic and organic nutrient concentrations, etc., whereas analysis of glacial and accretion ice from Vostok also implies that the elemental requirements for microbial growth could be satisfied in the lake by many possible electron donors (like H2, Fe2+ and NO 2 − ). Recent reports on the recovery of the longest ever ice core of ∼3,769 m open up a new window for answering many questions about microbiological life in extremes, evolution, and adaptations. This review attempts to present an updated understanding on the potential significance of subglacial environments in unraveling the mystery of evolution of life.