Hidden microbes in vulnerable glacier
Glaciers of the Hindu Kush region are highly susceptible to climate change. Recently, a severe glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) hit the supra-glacial region at the frontier of Dook Pal Glacier.
An article written by Dr Nikhat Ilahi from Chitral has been published in an international journal, Environmental Sciences Europe (Springer Nature). This work was carried out with the help of Chinese researchers.
The article covers hidden microbes unlocked from one of the highly vulnerable glacier of Hindu Kush, Golen Chitral, hit by a severe glacial lake outburst flood in 2019.
Information on the bacterial community in a freshly appeared supra-glacial lake after GLOF is essential to probe the bacterial distribution pattern after immediate unlocking from the supra-glacial region.
After GLOF, geochemistry and bacterial diversity, distribution, community structure, and function were examined in the lake-debris and melt-water.
In general, concentrations of dissolved free amino acids were similar between lake-debris and melt-water, potentially toxic elements and cations were greater in lake-debris, and anions concentrations were greater in melt-water.
In addition, there was comparable diversity in the glacial melt-water and lake-debris: Proteobacteria dominated in lake-debris (33.1–94.5%), while Proteobacteria (36.7–50.5%) and Firmicutes (44–62%) dominated in melt-water. It is more likely that Proteobacteria and Firmicutes shifted towards melt-water after GLOF, creating an uneven distribution of communities in the lake-debris; however, a relatively even distribution was maintained in melt-water.
Genes responsible for metabolism and energy production were higher in lake-debris than in melt-water bacteria; whereas, genes for other cellular mechanisms were higher in melt-water than in lake-debris bacteria.
The study offers valuable datasets in understanding the bacterial diversity, distribution and function as a consequence of GLOF at the glacial frontier.
According to the article, resurrection of hidden microbes from glaciers due to global warming is now a big concern among the researchers. This article provides an insight into glacier melting accompanied by microbes that could be potentially pathogenic.
Dr. Ilahi received her MPhil degree in microbiology from Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad. Currently, she is a PhD scholar at Lanzhou University, China, supported by a Chinese scholarship.
Her focus is to probe the presence of pathogenic bacteria or antibiotic resistant microbes unlocked from the glaciers located in the Hindu Kush region.