This metagenomic dataset represents an integral part of a collaborative research program representing researchers from the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia), the J. Craig Venter Institute (Rockville, USA), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (San Francisco, USA) and the Australian Antarctic Division (Hobart, Australia). The data is unpublished.
The metagenome data includes sequencing results from two lakes in the Vestfold Hills region of East Antarctica and ocean samples in the vicinity of Casey Research Station. All samples were collected using size fraction filtering methods that were used on the the Venter Institute''s Global Ocean Sampling Expedition. DNA was isolated from the 0.1 to 0.8 microns size fraction.
Sampling occured in December 2006. Ocean samples were taken during Voyage 2 of the Aurora Australis; an ice-breaker that supports scientific research programs of the Australian Antarctic Division. Lake samples were taken during field expeditions in the Vestfold Hills neighbouring Davis Research Station. The two lakes, Ace Lake and Organic Lake, are marine-derived meromictic lake systems.
Ace Lake was first visited by scientists in 1974, and is the most intensively studied stratified lakes in Antarctica. The saline stratification maintains zones that are aerobic, through to methane-saturated anoxic bottom waters. Organic Lake is also a stratified, cold environment that supports growth of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms, but unlike Ace Lake it is highly saline.
Most (~75%) of the Earth's biosphere is cold, and psychrophiles proliferate in cold environments (e.g. polar and alpine habitats, the deep ocean, caves, terrestrial and ocean sub-surface, and the upper atmosphere). Despite the fundamental role that the cold biosphere plays in maintaining the health of the planet, relatively little is known about the resident microorganisms and the biogeochemical processes they drive.
By linking metagenomic and functional data to climate records, geochemical and physical data, we will be in a unique position to derive an integrated understanding of how the lake and oceanic microorganisms have evolved, transformed, and presently interact with the pristine Antarctic environment.
