School of Oceanography, University of Washington, Campus Mailbox 357940, Seattle, WA 98195,USA.
Biology (Basel). 2013 Mar 28;2(2):603-28. doi: 10.3390/biology2020603.
Inherent to sea ice, like other high latitude environments, is the strong seasonality driven by changes in insolation throughout the year. Sea-ice organisms are exposed to shifting, sometimes limiting, conditions of temperature and salinity. An array of adaptations to survive these and other challenges has been acquired by those organisms that inhabit the ice. One key adaptive response is the production of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which play multiple roles in the entrapment, retention and survival of microorganisms in sea ice. In this concept paper we consider two main areas of sea-ice microbiology: the physico-chemical properties that define sea ice as a microbial habitat, imparting particular advantages and limits; and extracellular responses elicited in microbial inhabitants as they exploit or survive these conditions. Emphasis is placed on protective strategies used in the face of fluctuating and extreme environmental conditions in sea ice. Gaps in knowledge and testable hypotheses are identified for future research.
海冰具有内在属性，与其他高纬度环境一样，强烈的季节性受全年太阳辐射变化的驱动。海冰生物暴露在不断变化的、有时是限制其生存的温度和盐度条件下。为了在这些和其他挑战中生存，栖息在冰中的生物已经获得了一系列的适应性。一种关键的适应反应是产生细胞外聚合物物质（EPS），它在微生物在海冰中的捕获、保留和生存中发挥多种作用。在本概念论文中，我们考虑了海冰微生物学的两个主要领域：定义海冰作为微生物栖息地的物理化学性质，赋予其特定的优势和限制；以及微生物居民在利用或生存这些条件时引发的细胞外反应。重点放在面对海冰中波动和极端环境条件时使用的保护策略上。确定了未来研究中存在的知识差距和可检验的假设。
