Cultivation and Characterization of Microorganisms in Antarctic Lakes

Microorganisms were isolated from Antarctica lakes and identified based on 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The lake samples were collected from Antarctic lakes in Skavrvsnes near Syowa Station area. When cultivation of lake water was performed at 4degC and 20degC in several selection media, most of microorganisms could not grow at 20degC, but they could efficiently grow at 4degC, indicating that low incubation temperature was more suitable for microorganisms in Antarctica lake. 16S rDNA of each isolate was sequenced. Homology search on GenBank showed that some clones were closely related to class of Flavobacteria, Bacilli, Actinobacteria, Alpha-proteobacteria, and Gamma-proteobacteria. A strain which grew at 20degC was identical to previously characterized bacterium (Gillisia limnaea) with 93% of 16S rDNA similarity, which suggested that this strain might be representative of novel genera.