The McMurdo Dry Valleys are a row of largely snow-free valleys in Antarctica, located within Victoria Land west of McMurdo Sound. The Dry Valleys experience extremely low humidity and surrounding mountains prevent the flow of ice from nearby glaciers. The rocks here are granites and gneisses, and glacial tills dot this bedrock landscape, with loose gravel covering the ground. It is one of the driest places on Earth and is sometimes claimed to have not seen rain in nearly two million years, though this is highly unlikely and several anecdotal accounts of rainfall within the Dry Valleys exist.
The McMurdo Sound is a sound in Antarctica, known as the southernmost passable body of water in the world, located approximately 1,300 kilometres (810 mi) from the South Pole.
Lake Fryxell is a frozen lake 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) long, between Canada Glacier and Commonwealth Glaciers at the lower end of Taylor Valley in Victoria Land, Antarctica. It was mapped in the early 1900s and named during Operation Deep Freeze in the 1950s. There are several forms of algae living in the waters and a weather station located at the lake.
Lake Bonney is a saline lake with permanent ice cover at the western end of Taylor Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Victoria Land, Antarctica.
Pseudonocardia is a genus of the bacteria family Pseudonocardiaceae. Members of this genus have been found living mutualistically on the cuticle of the leafcutter ants because the bacteria has antibiotic properties that protect the fungus grown by the ants. When they are grooming, their legs are passed over their mouth gland that produces the antibiotic and then their legs touch the fungi while they are walking around. The ants have metapleural glands that produce the antimicrobial components to eliminate the Escovopsis fungi. The bacteria may also be found in crypts on the propleural plate. Pseudonocardia is found to have antibiotic properties provided to the leaf-cutter ant to inhibit the growth of Escovopsis, which is a black yeast that parasitizes the leaf-cutter ant. Pseudonocardia can be found in both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Pseudonocardia belongs to the phylum Actinobacteria. Most Actinobacteria grow in soils that are of a neutral pH. Actinobacteria are also important in plant-associated microbial communities are referred to as "free-living." This means that they are not dependent on another organism to live. For example: A non-free-living organism would be a parasite that depends on a host as a food source and a place for shelter. "Free-living" also allows these organisms to require less energy and food for survival. Bacteria from the Pseudonocardia genus are catalase-positive, non-motile, aerobic, non-acid-fast and produce a gram positive reaction. Under the microscope they exhibit branching, rod-shaped organisms.
There are many different strains of Pseudonocardia and a good portion of these strains have been found in China, in soils of the forest, and in Eucalyptus trees of Australia.
Antarctica is one of the most physically and chemically extreme terrestrial environments to be inhabited by lifeforms. The largest plants are mosses, and the largest animals that do not leave the continent are a few species of insects.
Diana Harrison Wall was an American environmental scientist and soil ecologist. She was the founding director of the School of Global Environmental Sustainability, a distinguished biology professor, and senior research scientist at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. Wall investigated ecosystem processes, soil biodiversity and ecosystem services. Her research focused on the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys and its Wall Valley was named after her. Wall was a globally recognized leader and speaker on life in Antarctica and climate change.
Lois M. Jones was an American geochemist who led the first all-woman science team to Antarctica in 1969. They were also the first women to reach the South Pole. Jones was well regarded for her contribution to geological research in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, one of the few ice-free areas of Antarctica, and published many papers and abstracts.
Pseudonocardia chloroethenivorans is a trichloroethene degrading bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia.
Pseudonocardia eucalypti is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from the roots of the tree Eucalyptus microcarpa in Adelaide in Australia.
Pseudonocardia halophobica is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from soil.
Pseudonocardia parietis is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from a wall which was colonized with mould in Stuttgart in Germany.
Pseudonocardia petroleophila is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from soil.
Pseudonocardia sichuanensis is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from the roots of the plant Jatropha curcas in Panzhihua in China.ref>Parker, Charles Thomas; Garrity, George M (2012). Parker, Charles Thomas; Garrity, George M (eds.). "Nomenclature Abstract for Pseudonocardia sichuanensis Qin et al. 2012". The NamesforLife Abstracts. doi:10.1601/nm.23304.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of April 2024 (link)</ref>
Pseudonocardia tetrahydrofuranoxydans is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from water from a waste water treatment plant in Germany.
Pseudonocardia yuanmonensis is a bacterium from the genus of Pseudonocardia which has been isolated from forest soil in Yuanmo County, Yunnan Province, China.
Rhodoglobus vestalii is a Gram-positive and psychrophilic bacterium from the genus Rhodoglobus which has been isolated from a dry Valley lake near the McMurdo Ice Shelf from the Antarctica.
Paenisporosarcina macmurdoensis is a bacterium from the genus of Paenisporosarcina which has been isolated from cyanobacterial mat from the Mc Murdo dry Valley in the Antarctica.
Lake Washburn is a lake that formerly existed in the Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. It formed when climatic changes and an expansion of ice caused the flooding of the valley, between 23,000 and 8,340 radiocarbon years ago. Its extent and elevation are unclear but Lake Bonney and Lake Fryxell are considered to be its present-day remnant.
Exiguobacterium soli is a psychrophilic bacterium from the genus of Exiguobacterium which has been isolated from the McMurdo Dry Valleys.
