Life In Ancient Ice

John D. Castello, Scott O. Rogers

306 pages, parution le 03/06/2005

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Résumé

Life in Ancient Ice presents an unparalleled overview of current research into microbial life in ancient glacial ice and permafrost. Particulates of fungi, bacteria, pollen grains, protists, and viruses are carried by wind around the globe. When they fall to Earth in polar regions they may be trapped in ice for hundreds of millennia. Some of the many implications sound like science fiction--for example, might melting glaciers release ancient pathogens that yield modern-day pandemics? But rigorous, coordinated research is nascent. This book points the way forward. Based on a National Science Foundation-sponsored symposium organized by the editors in 2001, it comprises twenty chapters by internationally renowned scientists, including Russian experts whose decades of work has been rarely available in English.

The book begins by setting forth many protocols that have been used to study microorganisms trapped in ice, discussing their potential sources and presenting evidence for microbial metabolic activity at temperatures below freezing. This is followed by nine chapters describing the fungi, bacteria, and viruses that have been found in permafrost and glacial ice. Later chapters include a look at Antarctica's subglacial Lake Vostok, at a robot that can be lowered into ice to detect microbes, and at the use of icy environments on Earth as model systems for studying similar environments on planets and moons. The editors conclude by reviewing key discoveries and outlining important areas for future research.

L'auteur - John D. Castello

John D. Castello is Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology in the College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York.

L'auteur - Scott O. Rogers

Scott O. Rogers is Professor and Chair of Biological Sciences at Bowling Green State University.

Sommaire

List of Figures
List of Tables
Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Recommendations for Elimination of Contaminants and Authentication of Isolates in Ancient Ice Cores
Perennial Antarctic Lake Ice: A Refuge for Cyanobacteria in an Extreme Environment
The Growth of Prokaryotes in Antarctic Sea Ice: Implications for Ancient Ice Communities
Frozen in Time: The Diatom Record in Ice Cores from Remote Drilling Sites on the Antarctic Ice Sheets
The Nature and Likely Sources of Biogenic Particles Found in Ancient Ice from Antarctica
Microbial Life below the Freezing Point within Permafrost
Yeasts Isolated from Ancient Permafrost
Fungi in Ancient Permafrost Sediments of the Arctic and Antarctic Regions
Viable Phototrophs: Cyanobacteria and Green Algae from the Permafrost Darkness
The Significance and Implications of the Discovery of Filamentous Fungi in Glacial Ice
Yeasts in the Genus Rhodotorula Recovered from the Greenland Ice Sheet
Plant and Bacterial Viruses in the Greenland Ice Sheet
Viral Pathogens of Humans Likely to Be Preserved in Natural Ice
Classification of Bacteria from Polar and Nonpolar Glacial Ice
Common Features of Microorganisms in Ancient Layers of the Antarctic Ice Sheet
Comparative Biological Analyses of Accretion Ice from
Subglacial Lake Vostok
Search for Microbes and Biogenic Compounds in Polar Ice Using Fluorescence
Living Cells in Permafrost as Models for Astrobiology
A Synopsis of the Past, an Evaluation of the Current, and a Glance toward the Future
Index

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Princeton University Press
Auteur(s)	John D. Castello, Scott O. Rogers
Parution	03/06/2005
Nb. de pages	306
Format	16 x 24
Couverture	Relié
Poids	611g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780691074757
ISBN13	978-0-691-07475-7