Structure and Stability of Microbial Assemblages in Seasonal Lake Ice: Miquelon Lake, Alberta, Canada

• Author / Creator

  Bramucci, Anna

• Prokaryotic life has been identified in every terrestrial icy/frozen environment studied to date. There is evidence of microbial activity and replication within ice as well, but there has been little research done on the seasonally frozen portion of the cryosphere. The present study focuses on the inter- and intra-seasonal microbial assemblage composition within the lake ice of Miquelon Lake, a shallow saline lake in Alberta, Canada. The prokaryotic diversity was investigated by screening diversity with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and subsequently constructing bacterial and eukaryotic clone libraries of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes, respectively. The nearest neighbors (according to BLAST) indicate the presence of a complete microbial food web within the lake ice throughout the duration of the winter season. Furthermore, the presence of a chlorophyll a peak at a conserved ice depth throughout the duration of the season gives indication that at lease a portion of the photosynthetic ice consortia might be active or reproducing within the ice.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Seasonal lake ice
  • Microbial composition
  • Miquelon Lake Alberta

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3GQ0F

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.