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Science 10 December 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5447, pp. 2144 - 2147
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5447.2144
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Reports

Microorganisms in the Accreted Ice of Lake Vostok, Antarctica

D. M. Karl, 1 D. F. Bird, 2 K. Björkman, 1 T. Houlihan, 1 R. Shackelford, 1 L. Tupas 1

Analysis of a portion of Vostok ice core number 5G, which is thought to contain frozen water derived from Lake Vostok, Antarctica (a body of liquid water located beneath about 4 kilometers of glacial ice), revealed between 2 × 102 and 3 × 102 bacterial cells per milliliter and low concentrations of potential growth nutrients. Lipopolysaccharide (a Gram-negative bacterial cell biomarker) was also detected at concentrations consistent with the cell enumeration data, which suggests a predominance of Gram-negative bacteria. At least a portion of the microbial assemblage was viable, as determined by the respiration of carbon-14-labeled acetate and glucose substrates during incubations at 3°C and 1 atmosphere. These accreted ice data suggest that Lake Vostok may contain viable microorganisms.

1 School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
2 Département des Sciences Biologiques, Université du Quebec à Montreal, Casier Postal 8888, Succursale Centre-Ville, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3C 3P8.

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