Mapping the Uncharted Diversity of Arctic Marine Microbes

Mapping the Uncharted Diversity of Arctic Marine Microbes

Image Gallery

This page contains photos and videos associated with the Mapping the Uncharted Diversity of Arctic Marine Microbes expedition. Click on any image or video to view a larger version and for additional information.

Microbial Distributions

Microbial Distributions

Figure 1. Here you can see the contrasting distributions of Pelagibacter and Sulfitobacter within the Alaska Coastal Current.

Microbial Distributions

Microbial Distributions

Figure 2. Distributions of temperature (A) and relative abundances of Nitrosopumilus (B), Lentimonas (C), and Nitzschia (D) in near-bottom waters.

Microbial Distributions

Microbial Distributions

Figure 3. Distributions of nutrients (nitrate + nitrite) (A) and relative abundance of Thalassiosira (B) in near-bottom waters.

Phytoplankton Distributions

Phytoplankton Distributions

Here you can see two different groups of phytoplankton—diatoms and haptophytes—segregating out along a transect based on temperature and water mass.

Microbial Distributions

Microbial Distributions

Here you can see some of the zooplankton, for example ciliates, cyclopoid copepods, and an uncultured group of organisms called MAST-3, which is thought to be a parasite and here seems to be correlated with the copepods.

Bacterial Distributions

Bacterial Distributions

Here you can see several groups of bacteria found during this project.

Microbial Species Distributions

Microbial Species Distributions

Here you can see the spatial distribution of total OTUs and diatom and animal eDNA over the Chukchi Sea in the upper water column and the lower water column.

Microbial Distributions

Microbial Distributions

Here you can see a number of bacteria and archaea that appear more abundant in the Alaska Coastal Current, which runs near shore.

Microbial Distributions

Unclassified Microbial Distributions

Here you can see the distributions of a number of organisms that we cannot yet identify by their DNA, but which are present in relatively high abundance.

Map of Collected Samples

Map of Collected Samples

Figure 1. Map of samples collected during the Arctic GEOTRACES Cruise in 2015.

Arctic Ocean Water Layers

Arctic Ocean Water Layers

Figure 2. Arctic Ocean water layers overlaid on a bathymetric map of the eastern Arctic basin.

Metalloprotein Gene Abundance

Metalloprotein Gene Abundance

Figure 3. Metalloprotein gene abundance with depth in the Arctic Ocean.

Phylogenetic Trees

Phylogenetic Trees

Figure 1. Two visualizations of the same phylogenetic tree.

Stacked Bar Charts

Stacked Bar Charts

Figure 2. Example of stacked bar charts.

Bacterial Sequences

Bacterial Sequences

Figure 3. A cluster of bacterial sequences dominate this Arctic seawater sample.

Gammaproteobacteria Sample

Gammaproteobacteria Sample

Figure 4. Zoomed in view of map from Figure 3 showing the seawater sample is dominated by a large group called the Gammaproteobacteria.

Vibrio

Figure 5. An even closer look at the map in Figure 3, showing that the peak corresponds to bacteria related to Vibrio.

Bacterial Map

Figure 6. Bacterial map of another Arctic seawater sample.

Zoomed In Bacterial Map

Zoomed In Bacterial Map

Figure 7. A closer look at the map in Figure 6.

Cleaning DNA Solutions

Cleaning DNA Solutions

Washing away unwanted organic and inorganic materials from solution containing extracted microbial DNA.

Fishing for Microbes

Fishing for Microbes

Fishing for microbes in the Chukchi Sea.

Vortexing Microbial Cells

Vortexing Microbial Cells

Vortexing microbial cells in cell-releasing solution to remove them from filter membranes.

Vacuum Pump

Vacuum pump apparatus for cleaning up and isolating genetic material.

The Norseman II

The Norseman II

The Norseman II anchored in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

Tray of Invertebrates

Tray of Invertebrates

A tray of invertebrates, fresh from a benthic trawl.

A Snail

Neoiphinoe coronata, a snail (Mollusca: Gastropoda).

A Basketstar

Gorgonocephalus sp., a basket star (Echinodermata: Ophiuroidea).

The Ship’s Bridge

The Ship’s Bridge

A glimpse from the ship’s bridge, facing the stern of the Johan Hjort on the day of departure in Tromsø, Norway.

The Johan Hjort

The Johan Hjort

A view of the Johan Hjort anchored in calm waters. This image was taken from the ship’s tender, as the scientific crew made an opportunistic detour to Bear Island.

Microbiology Lab

Microbiology Lab

What microbiology may look like in a little corner of a small storage room on a large ship.

A CTD Cast

Instrument technicians trigger the closure of Niskin bottles at wanted depths for the collection of sample seawater.

Unicellular Ice Algae

Unicellular Ice Algae

Ice algae are an important component of the Arctic marine food web.

Melt Pond

Scientists gather samples from a sea ice melt pond in the middle of the Arctic ‘night,’.

Hierarchy of Classification

Hierarchy of Classification

Hierarchy of traditional rank-based classification of organisms.

DNA

DNA is a double helix formed by base pairs attached to a sugar-phosphate backbone.

Three Domains of Life

Three Domains of Life

All of life on Earth is divided into three major domains: the Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya.

Bristle Worm

Bristle worm collected from seafloor mud with a box core during a 2002 Arctic ocean exploration mission.

Box Corer

Box corers are used to collect sediment samples from the seafloor.

Arctic Sea Ice

Sea ice extent in the Arctic.

Sea Ice Growth

Sea ice growth history.

Sea Ice Algae

Sea ice algae from Barrow, Alaska.

Sea Ice Food Web

Sea Ice Food Web

Sea ice food web.

Sea Ice Core

Sterilely sectioning a sea ice core.

Microscopic Sea Ice Algae

Microscopic Sea Ice Algae

Sea ice algae within brine pockets.