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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2005, p. 4619-4627, Vol. 71, No. 8
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.8.4619-4627.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

16S rRNA Sequences and Differences in Bacteria Isolated from the Muztag Ata Glacier at Increasing Depths

Shurong Xiang,^1,2* Tandong Yao,^1,2 Lizhe An,^2,3 Bingliang Xu,⁴ and Junxia Wang²

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China,¹ Key Laboratory of Cryosphere and Environment, Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, People's Republic of China,² School of Life Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, People's Republic of China,³ Department of Plant Pathology, Gansu Agricultural University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730070, People's Republic of China⁴

Received 24 January 2005/ Accepted 7 March 2005

Small subunit 16S rRNA sequences, growth temperatures, and phylogenetic relationships have been established for 129 bacterial isolates recovered under aerobic growth conditions from different regions of a 22-m ice core from the Muztag Ata Mountain glacier on the Pamirs Plateau (China). Only 11% were psychrophiles (grew at 2°C or –2°C up to 20°C), although the majority (82%) were psychrotolerant (grew at 2°C or –2°C up to 37°C). The majority of the isolates had 16S rRNA sequences similar to previously determined sequences, ranging from 85% to 100% identical to database sequences. Based on their 16S rRNA sequences, 42.6% of the isolates were high-G+C (HGC) gram-positive bacteria, 23.3% were -Proteobacteria, 14.7% were -Proteobacteria, 14.7% were Flavobacteria, and 4.7% were low-G+C (LGC) gram-positive bacteria. There were clear differences in the depth distribution, with Proteobacteria, HGC/Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB), Proteobacteria, LGC/CFB/HGC, Cryobacterium psychrophilum, HGC/CFB, Proteobacteria/HGC/CFB, and HGC/CFB being the predominant isolates from ice that originated from 2.7 to 3.8, 6.2, 7.5, 8.3, 9.0, 9.7, 12.5, and 15.3 m below the surface, respectively. This layered distribution of bacterial isolates presumably reflects both differences in bacteria inhabiting the glacier's surface, differences in bacteria deposited serendipitously on the glacier's surface by wind and snowfall, and nutrient availability within the ice.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Cold and Arid Regions Environment and Engineering Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Science, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, People's Republic of China. Phone: 86 931 827 7541. Fax: 86 931 827 6345. E-mail: srxiang{at}ns.lzb.ac.cn or xsrwty{at}public.lz.gs.cn.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, August 2005, p. 4619-4627, Vol. 71, No. 8
0099-2240/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.71.8.4619-4627.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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