Earth’s Cryosphere, 2025, Vol. XXIX, No. 2, p. 25-36.

PERMAFROST MICROBIOLOGY

FEATURES OF MICROBIOTA FORMATION IN THE DEGLACIATION ZONE (EASTERN MUGUR GLACIER, SOUTHEASTERN ALTAI)

D.Yu. Vlasov1,9, D.A. Ganyushkin2,*, G.P. Kopitsa3,4, Yu.E. Gorshkova5,6, N.V. Platonova7, I.Yu. Tikhomirova8, L.A. Pankratova2, S.N. Lessovaia2

1 St. Petersburg State University, Biological Faculty, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199198 Russia
2 Institute of Earth Sciences, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199198 Russia
3 Konstantinov Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, National Research Center Kurchatov Institute, Orlova Roshcha 1, Gatchina, Leningrad region, 188300 Russia
4 Grebenshchikov Institute of Silicate Chemistry, nab. Makarov 2A, St. Petersburg, 199034 Russia
5 Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Joliot-Curie St. 6, Dubna, Moscow region, 141980 Russia
6 Institute of Physics, Kazan Federal University, Kremlevskaya St. 16A, Kazan, 420008 Russia
7 Research Park, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, St. Petersburg, 199198 Russia
8 Herzen University, Moika nab. 48, St. Petersburg, 191186 Russia
9 Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Popova St. 2, St. Petersburg, 197376 Russia
*Corresponding author; e-mail: d.ganyushkin@spbu.ru

An analysis of samples of cryoconite and moraine material collected on the surface of the Eastern Mugur Glacier (Mongun-Taiga Ridge, Southeastern Altai) was carried out. The results of metagenomic analysis indicate significant differences in the microbiota of cryoconites at different altitudes of the glacier: at the maximum altitude, the absolute dominance of actinobacteria from the Kineosporiaceae family was noted; closer to the edge, actinobacteria from the Microbacteriaceae family predominated. Representatives with a wide ecological amplitude, as well as psychrophilic and extremophilic bacteria (representatives of the Kineosporiaceae and Geodermatophilaceae families) were found in the cryoconites, which probably indicates different pathways for the microorganisms to enter the cryoconites and possible differences in the time of their presence in these habitats. Actinobacteria are most adapted to the extreme conditions that develop in the cryoconites of the Eastern Mugur Glacier, which contributes to the accumulation of primary biomass and the formation of organomineral substances in cryoconite holes. As one approaches the edge of the glacier, the taxonomic diversity and proportion of microorganisms with a wide ecological amplitude increase, which is probably explained by the airborne transport of particles of moraine material settling in the cryoconites. In the surface moraine material at the edge of the glacier, proteobacteria (representatives of the Sphingomonadaceae family) turned out to be superdominants, which may be associated with the processes of initial soil formation.

Keywords: cryoconites, the Altai Mountains, mountain glaciers, microbiota.

Recommended citation: Vlasov D.Yu., Ganushkin D.A., Kopitsa G.P., Gorshkova Yu.E., Platonova N.V., Tikhomirova I.Yu., Pankratova L.A., Lessovaia S.N., 2025. Features of microbiota formation in the deglaciation zone (Eastern Mugur Glacier, Southeastern Altai). Earth’s Cryosphere XXIX (2), 25–36.

Received April 30, 2024
Revised December 15, 2024
Accepted February 26, 2025
Translated by V.A. Krutikova