Isolation and Identification of Bacteria from an Ice Wedge of the Mamontova Gora Glacial Complex (Central Yakutia)

Abstract

Analysis of the aerobic heterotrophic component of bacterial communities from samples of poorly studied ancient ice wedge from the Mamontova Gora section (Central Yakutia), was carried out. The abundance of colony forming cells (CFU) of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria detected by plating of the thawed samples onto an agar nutrient media varied within 10³‒10⁴ CFU/mL. At the same time, the total number of intact cells was only 1−2 orders of magnitude higher. The taxonomic position of bacteria was determined by analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequences. These bacteria were represented by three phyla: Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria. The temperature growth range of 8–20°C, which is characteristic of psychrotolerant bacteria, proved to be a specific physiological feature of the isolated strains. Most bacteria were found to be sensitive to a wide range of antibiotics.