ArticleISME communications2024
Active microbiota persist in dry permafrost and active layer from Elephant Head, Antarctica.
Article in ISME communications, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Current and projected effects of climate change in cryosphere microbial ecosystems.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Three eruptions at the Fagradalsfjall Volcano in Iceland show rapid and predictable microbial community establishment.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Guidelines for preventing and reporting contamination in low-biomass microbiome studies.Nature microbiology · 2025Review
- Where the microbes aren't.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Resilient Antarctic soil bacteria consume trace gases across wide temperature ranges.The ISME journal · 2025Article
- Subzero cell division, respiration, and genomic traits of cryophilicFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dry permafrost is a challenging environment for microbial life due to cold, dry, and often oligotrophic conditions. In 2016, Elephant Head, Antarctica, was confirmed as the second site on Earth to contain dry permafrost. It is geographically distinct from the McMurdo Dry Valleys where dry permafrost has been studied previously. Here, we present the first study of the microbial activity, diversity, and functional potential of Elephant Head dry permafrost. Microbial activity was measured using radiorespiration assays with radiolabeled acetate as a carbon source at 5, 0, and -5°C. Low, but detectable, rates of microbial activity were measured in some samples at 0 and -5°C. This is distinct from previous studies of McMurdo Dry Valley dry permafrost which concluded that dry permafrost represents a cold-arid limit to life on the planet. The isolation of cold-adapted organisms from these soils, including one capable of subzero growth, further supports that the Elephant Head dry active layer and dry permafrost harbor viable microbial life, which may be active
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