Little is known about microbial ecosystems of interior Antarctica, if indeed such ecosystems exist. Although considerable research has assessed microorganisms indigenous to coastal regions of Antarctica, particularly their lakes, ponds, and soils, to our knowledge only one characterized bacterium, a strain of Pseudomonas, has been isolated from South Pole ice or snow. Metagenomic community analyses described in this work and elsewhere reveal that a diversity of bacteria exists in inland polar snows, yet attempts to culture and characterize these microbes from this extreme environment have been few to date. In this molecular and culture-dependent investigation of the microbiology of inland Antarctica, we enriched and isolated two new strains of bacteria and one strain of yeast (Fungi) from South Pole snow samples. The bacteria were of the genera Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas, and the yeast grouped with species of Naganishia (class Tremellocytes). In addition to phylogenetic analyses, characterization of these isolates included determinations of cell morphology, growth as a function of temperature, salinity tolerance, and carbon and energy source versatility. All organisms were found to be cold-adapted, and the yeast strain additionally showed considerable halotolerance. These descriptions expand our understanding of the diversity and metabolic activities of snowbound microorganisms of interior Antarctica.

如果确实存在南极内部的微生物生态系统，则鲜为人知。尽管大量研究评估了南极沿海地区的原生微生物，特别是其湖泊，池塘和土壤，但据我们所知，只有一种特征细菌，即假单胞菌菌株，已与南极冰雪隔离。这项工作和其他地方所描述的元基因组群落分析表明，内陆极地雪中存在多种细菌，但是迄今为止从未尝试过在这种极端环境中培养和鉴定这些微生物的特征。在对南极内陆微生物的分子学和文化依赖性研究中，我们从南极雪样中富集和分离了两种新细菌菌株和一种酵母菌（真菌）。细菌属于甲基杆菌属和鞘氨醇单胞菌属，并且酵母与长gan属物种（Tremellocytes类））。除了系统发育分析外，这些分离株的表征还包括确定细胞的形态，根据温度变化的生长，耐盐度以及碳和能源的多功能性。发现所有生物都是冷适应的，并且酵母菌株还显示出相当大的耐盐性。这些描述扩展了我们对南极内部积雪微生物的多样性和代谢活性的理解。