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. 2018 Jul 5;6(1):123.
doi: 10.1186/s40168-018-0505-5.

Metagenomic analysis of basal ice from an Alaskan glacier

Masood Ur Rehman Kayani  1 , Shawn M Doyle  2 , Naseer Sangwan  3   4 , Guanqun Wang  1 , Jack A Gilbert  5   6   7 , Brent C Christner  8 , Ting F Zhu  9
Affiliations

Metagenomic analysis of basal ice from an Alaskan glacier

Masood Ur Rehman Kayani et al. Microbiome. .

Abstract

Background: Glaciers cover ~ 10% of land but are among the least explored environments on Earth. The basal portion of glaciers often harbors unique aquatic microbial ecosystems in the absence of sunlight, and knowledge on the microbial community structures and their metabolic potential is very limited. Here, we provide insights into the microbial lifestyle present at the base of the Matanuska Glacier, Alaska.

Results: DNA and RNA were extracted from samples of the Matanuska Glacier basal ice. Using Illumina MiSeq and HiSeq sequencing, we investigated the microbial diversity with the metagenomic shotgun reads and 16S ribosomal RNA data. We further assembled 9 partial and draft bacterial genomes from the metagenomic assembly, and identified key metabolic pathways such as sulfur oxidation and nitrification. Collectively, our analyses suggest a prevalence of lithotrophic and heterotrophic metabolisms in the subglacial microbiome.

Conclusion: Our results present the first metagenomic assembly and bacterial draft genomes for a subglacial environment. These results extend our understanding of the chemical and biological processes in subglacial environments critically influenced by global climate change.

Keywords: Basal ice layer; Glacier; Metagenomics; Microbiome.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Taxonomic classification, abundance, and genome binning of the Matanuska basal ice layer metagenome. Relative abundance of top bacterial families identified by 16S rDNA (a) and rRNA (b) sequencing data. c Top potential metabolically active bacterial OTUs inferred by rRNA to rDNA ratio. d Relative abundance of top bacterial families identified by metagenomic data. e Partial and draft genome quality assessment plot indicating completeness and contamination levels of each GB
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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