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Abstract

A major natural route of dispersal to Antarctica is often assumed to be atmospheric transport, although few studies have documented this in detail. Aerial dispersal to Antarctica is very challenging as the continent is geographically remote from other land areas and is isolated by the atmospheric circumpolar vortex. Detailed information about aerial routes by which microorganisms arrive and circulate in Antarctica is generally lacking, as few aerobiological studies have focused on eukaryotes and those that have predominantly relied on traditional morphological identification. Recent advances in molecular biology, such as DNA metabarcoding by high throughput sequencing (HTS), have provided a powerful new tool for the study of atmospheric biological diversity and can retrieve levels of diversity an order of magnitude higher than traditional methods. In this study, we used HTS to investigate the diversity of non-fungal eukaryotes present in the atmosphere and freshly precipitated snow on Livingston Island. In a total of 740 m3 of air and 3.76 L of snow sampled, representatives of four kingdoms (Protozoa, Chromista, Viridiplantae and Animalia) and five phyla (Ciliophora, Ochrophyta, Chlorophyta, Magnoliophyta and Porifera) were found. The most diverse phylum was Chlorophyta, represented in our samples by 10 taxa, with Trebouxia asymmetrica Friedl & Gärtner the most abundant representative.

Details

1009240
Taxonomic term
Title
DNA metabarcoding of non-fungal eukaryotic diversity in air and snow of Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica
Publication title
Volume
44
Publication year
2025
Publication date
2025
Section
Research Articles
Publisher
Open Academia
Place of publication
Spånga
Country of publication
Sweden
ISSN
08000395
e-ISSN
17518369
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
Document type
Journal Article
Publication history
 
 
Milestone dates
2025-03-14 (Published); 2025-03-14 (Issued); 2021-10-11 (Submitted); 2025-03-14 (Created); 2025-03-14 (Modified)
ProQuest document ID
3177467910
Document URL
https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/dna-metabarcoding-non-fungal-eukaryotic-diversity/docview/3177467910/se-2?accountid=208611
Copyright
© 2025. This work is licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.
Last updated
2025-07-18
Database
ProQuest One Academic