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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2000, p. 4514-4517, Vol. 66, No. 10
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Bacterial Activity in South Pole Snow

Edward J. Carpenter,1 Senjie Lin,2 and Douglas G. Capone3,*

Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 117941; Department of Marine Sciences, University of Connecticut, Groton, Connecticut 063402; and Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 900893

Received 8 May 2000/Accepted 29 June 2000

Large populations (200 to 5,000 cells ml-1 in snowmelt) of bacteria were present in surface snow and firn from the south pole sampled in January 1999 and 2000. DNA isolated from this snow yielded ribosomal DNA sequences similar to those of several psychrophilic bacteria and a bacterium which aligns closely with members of the genus Deinococcus, an ionizing-radiation- and desiccation-resistant genus. We also obtained evidence of low rates of bacterial DNA and protein synthesis which indicates that the organisms were metabolizing at ambient subzero temperatures (-12 to -17°C).

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: AHF106, Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0371. E-mail: capone{at}usc.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, October 2000, p. 4514-4517, Vol. 66, No. 10
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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