HR: 14:40h
AN: U23B-04 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Microbial evolution and adaptation in subglacial environments
AU: * Lanoil, B
EM: brian.lanoil@ucr.edu
AF: Univeristy of California, Department of Environmental Sciences Geology 2217, Riverside, CA 92521, United States
AB: Recent discoveries of ancient, huge subglacial lakes in Antarctica, transport of enormous volumes of water from the surface of the Greenland ice sheet through giant cracks extending through nearly 4000 m of ice, and other astounding features of polar regions underscores the lack of knowledge regarding the physical and chemical aspects of these widespread environments, to say nothing of their microbiology. In fact, until recently subglacial environments were thought to be completely abiotic. However, many recent studies indicate the presence of widespread, abundant, and active microbial assemblages in subglacial environments. Surprisingly, the composition of these assemblages appears to be quite similar in subglacial environments around the world. I will discuss these similarities and potential reasons for this similarity, and ongoing and future studies to provide clearer insights into the mechanisms of evolution and adaptation to these environments.
DE: 0448 Geomicrobiology
DE: 0456 Life in extreme environments
DE: 0465 Microbiology: ecology, physiology and genomics (4840)
DE: 0716 Cryobiology (0475)
DE: 0746 Lakes (9345)
SC: Union [U]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting