Antarctica is home to microbes found nowhere else on Earth

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Add as preferred source Noah Fierer collects samples at the Shackleton Glacier, near the Ross Ice Shelf. Credit: Byron Adams Scientists have often wondered about species that are unique to Antarctica. But the focus has mainly been on animals, like feathery penguins. CIRES researchers wanted to dig deeper—into the soils—believing tiny organisms could be unique to the continent, too.

The team, led by postdoctoral researcher Nick Dragone and co-authored by CIRES Fellow and director of the Center for Microbial Exploration Noah Fierer, recently found evidence that specific microbes in Antarctica's soils are endemic—located on the continent and nowhere else on Earth. The novel results were published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences .