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Evidence For Circumpolar Distribution Of Planktonic Archaea In The Southern Ocean, Alison E. Murray, Ke Ying Wu, Craig L. Moyer, Dave M. Karl, Edward F. Delong

Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Surveys using rRNA-targeted probes specific for the 3 domains of life (Eucarya, Archaea, and Bacteria) indicated the presence, and at times high abundance, of archaeal rRNA in a variety of water masses surrounding Antarctica. Hybridization signals of archaeal rRNA contributed significantly to that of total picoplankton rRNA both north and south of the Polar Front in Drake Passage. Late winter surface water populations collected around the South Shetland Islands also yielded relatively high archaeal rRNA hybridization signals, approaching 10% or greater of the total rRNA. Summer samples collected in the western region of the Antarctic Peninsula and at McMurdo Sound …