Beschreibung:
The largest part of the Earth’s microbial biomass is stored in cold environments, which represent almost untapped reservoirs of novel species, processes, and genes. In this study, the first metagenomic survey of the metabolic and phylogenetic diversity of a glacial microbial community was conducted. In addition, the so far unexplored habitat glacier ice was exploited with respect to novel genes encoding DNA-modifying enzymes. DNA was isolated from glacial ice of the Northern Schneeferner, Germany. The phylogenetic composition of the microbial community was assessed by evaluation of a pyrosequencing-derived dataset, sequencing of 16S rRNA genes, and cultivation. The Proteobacteria (mainly, Betaproteobacteria), Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria were the dominant phylogenetic groups. As expected for microorganisms living in a low-nutrient environment, a high metabolic versatility with respect to degradation of organic substrates was detected ...