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Genetic signatures indicate widespread antibiotic resistance and phage infection in microbial communities of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica

dc.contributor.authorWei, Sean T.S.
dc.contributor.authorHiggins, Colleen M.
dc.contributor.authorAdriaenssens, Evelien M.
dc.contributor.authorCowan, Don A.
dc.contributor.authorPointing, Stephen B.
dc.date.accessioned2015-07-21T07:42:41Z
dc.date.available2015-07-21T07:42:41Z
dc.date.issued2015-02
dc.description.abstractThe McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica support extensive yet cryptic microbial communities but little evidence for ‘top-down’ herbivory control. A question therefore arises as to how standing microbial biomass is regulated. Here, we present results from a survey of soil and rock microbial community metagenomes using the GeoChip microarray that demonstrate antibiotic resistance and phage infection are widespread. We interrogated a range of dry valley locations from maritime to extreme inland sites. Antibiotic resistance genes were identified in three categories: beta-lactamases, tetracycline and vanomycin plus a range of transporter genes. Frequency of recovery generally reflected microbial diversity, with greatest abundance among Halobacteria, Proteobacteria and the photosynthetic bacteria (Chlorobi, Chloroflexi and Cyanobacteria). However, no clear differences between locations and soil/rock communities were apparent. Phage signals were also recovered from all locations in soil and rock communities. The Leviviridae, Myoviridae, Podoviridae and Siphoviridae were ubiquitous . The Corticoviridae occurred only in moisturesufficient hyporheic soils, the Microviridae occurred only in maritime and hyporheic sites and an unidentified group within the order Caudovirales occurred only at dry inland sites. We postulate that widespread antibiotic resistance indicates potential inter-specific interaction and that phage signals indicate possible ‘bottom-up’ trophic regulation in the dry valleys.en_ZA
dc.description.embargo2016-02-28en_ZA
dc.description.librarianhb2015en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://link.springer.com/journal/300en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationWei, STS, Higgins, CM, Adriaenssens, EM, Cowan, DA & Pointing, SB 2015, 'Genetic signatures indicate widespread antibiotic resistance and phage infection in microbial communities of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarctica', Polar Biology, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 919-925.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0722-4060 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1432-2056 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1007/s00300-015-1649-4
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/49130
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherSpringeren_ZA
dc.rights© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015.The original publication is available at : http://link.springer.comjournal/300en_ZA
dc.subjectAntibiotic resistanceen_ZA
dc.subjectAntarctic dry valleysen_ZA
dc.subjectPhageen_ZA
dc.subjectTrophic controlsen_ZA
dc.subjectVirusen_ZA
dc.titleGenetic signatures indicate widespread antibiotic resistance and phage infection in microbial communities of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, East Antarcticaen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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