The Arctic is warming - fast. Microbes in the Arctic play pivotal roles in feedbacks that magnify the impacts of Arctic change. Understanding the genome evolution, diversity and dynamics of Arctic microbes can provide insights relevant for both fundamental microbiology and interdisciplinary Arctic science. Within this synthesis, we highlight four key areas where genomic insights to the microbial dimensions of Arctic change are urgently required: the changing Arctic Ocean, greenhouse gas release from the thawing permafrost, 'biological darkening' of glacial surfaces, and human activities within the Arctic. Furthermore, we identify four principal challenges that provide opportunities for timely innovation in Arctic microbial genomics. These range from insufficient genomic data to develop unifying concepts or model organisms for Arctic microbiology to challenges in gaining authentic insights to the structure and function of low-biomass microbiota and integration of data on the causes and consequences of microbial feedbacks across scales. We contend that our insights to date on the genomics of Arctic microbes are limited in these key areas, and we identify priorities and new ways of working to help ensure microbial genomics is in the vanguard of the scientific response to the Arctic crisis.

中文翻译：

---

北极危机中的微生物基因组学。

北极正在变暖-速度很快。北极中的微生物在反馈中起着关键作用，这些反馈会放大北极变化的影响。了解北极微生物的基因组进化，多样性和动力学可以提供与基础微生物学和跨学科北极科学相关的见解。在此综合报告中，我们重点介绍了亟需对北极变化的微生物尺度进行基因组学分析的四个关键领域：不断变化的北极海洋，融化的永久冻土释放的温室气体，冰川表面的“生物变暗”以及北极内的人类活动。此外，我们确定了四个主要挑战，这些挑战为及时创新北极微生物基因组学提供了机会。这些范围从基因组数据不足以发展北极微生物学的统一概念或模型生物，到挑战在于获得对低生物量微生物群的结构和功能的真实见解以及跨尺度反馈微生物的原因和后果的数据的整合。我们认为，迄今为止，我们对北极微生物基因组学的见识仅限于这些关键领域，并且我们确定了优先重点和新的工作方式来帮助确保微生物基因组学成为应对北极危机的科学手段的先锋。