Project description:To carry out population genetics analyses of the Arctic gregion we carried out Illumina Bead-Array-based enotyping on 18 samples from Greenland.
Project description:Background biology: Global warming has accelerated in recent decades, with the Arctic warming 2–3 times faster than the global average. As a result boreal species are expanding into the Arctic, at a pace reflecting environmental warming. Nevertheless, the poleward expansion of boreal marine species is restricted by their ability to tolerate low water temperatures, and in the case of intertidal species, sub-zero air temperatures during winter. In Greenland, however, the number of days with extreme sub-zero air temperatures has decreased by more than 50% since the 1950’s, suggesting that the low air temperature constraint is weakening. Although boreal intertidal species could potentially benefit from this warmer climate to establish populations in the Arctic, recent work has shown that local intertidal summer air temperatures in Greenland can exceed 36°C. This temperature is above the thermoregulatory capacity of many boreal intertidal species, including the highly abundant blue mussel Mytilus edulis. Therefore will further colonisation of M. edulis in Greenland be inhibited by the increasingly warm summer temperatures. Aim of experiment: Intertidal animals (Greenland blue mussel M. edulis) were sampled in situ on the first warm days of the year from the inner (warmer) and outer (cooler) regions of the Godthåbsfjorden around Nuuk (64°N) to examine the fjord temperature gradient effect. In addition, subtidal M. edulis were also collected and subjected to two acute temperature shocks of 22 and 32°C, which represented common and extreme summer air temperatures for intertidal habitats near Nuuk.
Project description:To carry out population genetics analyses of the Arctic gregion we carried out Illumina Bead-Array-based enotyping on 18 samples from Greenland. 19 samples were analysed with the Illumina platform Human660W-Quad v1.0 Genotyping BeadChip and are described herein.
Project description:We report here the release of a multi organ transcriptome developped for the Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus. This reference set was obtained using the 454 GS FLX+ technology. A pool of one-year-old, immature offspring of wild, anadromous Arctic charr originating from Lake Varflusjoen, Svalbard (79oN), including both lean and fat individuals, and three-years-old mature offspring of charr originating from Lake Vårflusjøen, North-Norway (70oN) was sampled. In order to maximize the diversity of expressed transcripts, we sampled a variety of organs and tissues; the whole brain, gill and head kidney and pieces of the liver, gonad, abdominal fat and muscle.
Project description:Surface ice and cryoconite holes of two types of polythermal Svalbard Glaciers (Hans Glacier--grounded tidewater glacier and Werenskiold Glacier-land-based valley glacier) were investigated in terms of chemical composition, microbial abundance and diversity. Gathered data served to describe supraglacial habitats and to compare microbe-environment interactions on those different type glaciers. Hans Glacier samples displayed elevated nutrient levels (DOC, nitrogen and seston) compared to Werenskiold Glacier. Adjacent tundra formations, bird nesting sites and marine aerosol were candidates for allochtonic enrichment sources. Microbial numbers were comparable on both glaciers, with surface ice containing cells in the range of 10(4) mL(-1) and cryoconite sediment 10(8) g(-1) dry weight. Denaturating gradient gel electrophoresis band-based clustering revealed differences between glaciers in terms of dominant bacterial taxa structure. Microbial community on Werenskiold Glacier benefited from the snow-released substances. On Hans Glacier, this effect was not as pronounced, affecting mainly the photoautotrophs. Over-fertilization of Hans Glacier surface was proposed as the major factor, desensitizing the microbial community to the snow melt event. Nitrogen emerged as a limiting factor in surface ice habitats, especially to Eukaryotic algae.