The role of photoheterotrophic and chemoautotrophic prokaryotes in the microbial food web in terrestrial Antarctica: a cultivation approach combined with functional analysis

We will study the diversity of key genes in mechanisms for CO2 fixation and for exploiting solar energy by bacteria. A large-scale isolation campaign from selected terrestrial Antarctic samples will be performed to obtain bacterial cultures that harbor these alternative mechanisms and use these organisms to experimentally test hypotheses with regard to their role in the community.