Gilichinsky D A, Wilson G S, Friedmann E I, McKay C P, Sletten R S, Rivkina E M, Vishnivetskaya T A, Erokhina L G, Ivanushkina N E, Kochkina G A, Shcherbakova V A, Soina V S, Spirina E V, Vorobyova E A, Fyodorov-Davydov D G, Hallet B, Ozerskaya S M, Sorokovikov V A, Laurinavichyus K S, Shatilovich A V, Chanton J P, Ostroumov V E, Tiedje J M
Institutes of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Moscow Region, Russia. gilichin@online stack.net
Astrobiology. 2007 Apr;7(2):275-311. doi: 10.1089/ast.2006.0012.
Antarctic permafrost soils have not received as much geocryological and biological study as has been devoted to the ice sheet, though the permafrost is more stable and older and inhabited by more microbes. This makes these soils potentially more informative and a more significant microbial repository than ice sheets. Due to the stability of the subsurface physicochemical regime, Antarctic permafrost is not an extreme environment but a balanced natural one. Up to 10(4) viable cells/g, whose age presumably corresponds to the longevity of the permanently frozen state of the sediments, have been isolated from Antarctic permafrost. Along with the microbes, metabolic by-products are preserved. This presumed natural cryopreservation makes it possible to observe what may be the oldest microbial communities on Earth. Here, we describe the Antarctic permafrost habitat and biodiversity and provide a model for martian ecosystems.
尽管南极永久冻土比冰盖更稳定、形成时间更早且有更多微生物栖息，但与对冰盖的地质和生物学研究相比，对南极永久冻土的研究较少。这使得这些土壤可能比冰盖更具信息价值，是更重要的微生物库。由于地下物理化学状态的稳定性，南极永久冻土并非极端环境，而是一个平衡的自然环境。从南极永久冻土中已分离出每克高达10⁴个活细胞，其年代大概与沉积物永久冻结状态的持续时间相对应。除了微生物，代谢副产物也得以保存。这种假定的自然低温保存使得观察地球上可能最古老的微生物群落成为可能。在此，我们描述了南极永久冻土的栖息地和生物多样性，并为火星生态系统提供了一个模型。
