Characterization of Bacterial Isolates from Freshwater Environments in Livingstone Island, Antarctica, Using Cultivation and Molecular Methods

The present research work summarizes the investigation of the microbial characteristics of bacterial isolates obtained from freshwater samples collected at various points throughout the Bulgarian Antarctic base “St. Kliment Ohridski” on Livingstone Island. The ability of microorganisms in psychrophilic envi¬ronments to survive and reproduce at low temperatures, lack of nutrients, and high UV radiation, suggests that they have developed specific mechanisms to overcome these extreme conditions. To understand the range of influence of these environmental factors standard microbiological techniques were used. The re¬search provides data on the influence of UV light, temperature range, determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to different heavy metals, and 16S rDNA taxonomic identification of the isolates. Ant¬arctic microorganisms are of great interest in food, textile, and brewing industries, production of detergents, etc. The microbial composition in such hostile habitats still little affected by the anthropogenic factor is es¬sential for understanding the potential of psychrophilic microorganisms in different practical applications.