Millennial-scale variations in Arctic sea ice are recorded in sedimentary ancient DNA of the microalga Polarella glacialis

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Sea ice is a critical component of the Earth’s Climate System and a unique habitat. Sea-ice changes prior to the satellite era are poorly documented, and proxy methods are needed to constrain its past variability. Here, we demonstrate the potential of sedimentary DNA from Polarella glacialis, a sea-ice microalga, for tracing past sea-ice conditions. We quantified P. glacialis DNA (targeting the nuclear ribosomal ITS1 region) in Arctic marine and fjord surface sediments and a sediment core from northern Baffin Bay spanning 12,000 years. Sea ice and sediment trap samples confirmed that cysts of P. glacialis are common in first-year sea ice and sinking particulate matter following sea-ice melt. Its detection is more efficient with our molecular approach than standard micropaleontological methods. Given that the species inhabits coastal and marine environments in the Arctic and Antarctic, P. glacialis DNA has the potential to become a useful tool for circum-polar sea-ice reconstructions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number25
JournalCommunications Earth and Environment
Volume5
Number of pages13
ISSN2662-4435
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
For assistance in the laboratory, we thank M. Potvin, C. Guilmette and, with map compilation K. K. Kjeldsen and C. Brogaard. We acknowledge the staff at the Arctic Station, University of Copenhagen and the help of Abel Brand and other local hunters from Qeqertarsuaq. The GreenEdge project was carried out with the support of the Hamlet of Qikiqtarjuaq, members of the community, including the Inuksuit School and Jacqueline Arsenault. We thank the crew and staff of CCGS Amundsen and Amundsen Science. We acknowledge the contributions of individuals from Takuvik, CNRS, the University of Manitoba and the Vagabond, who carried out sampling and logistic coordination for both the ice camp and the Amundsen mission. This study received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 846860 (grant to S.H., hosts S.Ri and C.Lo), the VILLUM Foundation grant nr: VKR023454 to Sri, the Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF Sapere Aude grant no. 9064-00039B to S.Ri, and grants No. 7014-00113B (G-Ice) and 0135-798 00165B (GreenShelf) to MSS, with additional funding from the EU H2020 Grant Agreement No. 869383 (ECOTIP). The NorthGreen17 expedition was funded by the Danish Centre for Marine Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The GreenEdge project was conducted under the scientific coordination of the Canada Excellence Research Chair on Remote sensing of Canada’s new Arctic frontier (CERC-new frontier) and the CNRS & Université Laval Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (UMI3376). The GreenEdge work was funded by the following: France, ANR (Contract #111112), CNES (project #131425), French Arctic Initiative, Foundation Total, CSA, LEFE and IPEV (project #1164) and in Canada ArcticNet (A network of Centers for excellence, Canada), CERC-new frontier and the CNRS & Université Laval Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (UMI3376). The Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen received support from the Amundsen Science programme funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund. The Long-Term Oceanic Observatories project of ArcticNet, to C.La for sediment trap deployments. Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC-Canada) discovery grants to C.Lo and A.L. (discovery grant RGPIN-2018-03984). The ice2ice project was funded by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement 610055), and S.D.S, J.L.R and K.S.S are funded via the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 818449, AGENSI). The Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Spring in Disko) project was financed by grant DFF–1323-00258 from the Danish Research Council to N.L.

Funding Information:
For assistance in the laboratory, we thank M. Potvin, C. Guilmette and, with map compilation K. K. Kjeldsen and C. Brogaard. We acknowledge the staff at the Arctic Station, University of Copenhagen and the help of Abel Brand and other local hunters from Qeqertarsuaq. The GreenEdge project was carried out with the support of the Hamlet of Qikiqtarjuaq, members of the community, including the Inuksuit School and Jacqueline Arsenault. We thank the crew and staff of CCGS Amundsen and Amundsen Science. We acknowledge the contributions of individuals from Takuvik, CNRS, the University of Manitoba and the Vagabond, who carried out sampling and logistic coordination for both the ice camp and the Amundsen mission. This study received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 846860 (grant to S.H., hosts S.Ri and C.Lo), the VILLUM Foundation grant nr: VKR023454 to Sri, the Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF Sapere Aude grant no. 9064-00039B to S.Ri, and grants No. 7014-00113B (G-Ice) and 0135-798 00165B (GreenShelf) to MSS, with additional funding from the EU H2020 Grant Agreement No. 869383 (ECOTIP). The NorthGreen17 expedition was funded by the Danish Centre for Marine Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The GreenEdge project was conducted under the scientific coordination of the Canada Excellence Research Chair on Remote sensing of Canada’s new Arctic frontier (CERC-new frontier) and the CNRS & Université Laval Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (UMI3376). The GreenEdge work was funded by the following: France, ANR (Contract #111112), CNES (project #131425), French Arctic Initiative, Foundation Total, CSA, LEFE and IPEV (project #1164) and in Canada ArcticNet (A network of Centers for excellence, Canada), CERC-new frontier and the CNRS & Université Laval Takuvik Joint International Laboratory (UMI3376). The Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen received support from the Amundsen Science programme funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) Major Science Initiatives (MSI) Fund. The Long-Term Oceanic Observatories project of ArcticNet, to C.La for sediment trap deployments. Natural Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC-Canada) discovery grants to C.Lo and A.L. (discovery grant RGPIN-2018-03984). The ice2ice project was funded by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement 610055), and S.D.S, J.L.R and K.S.S are funded via the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement 818449, AGENSI). The Qeqertarsuup Tunua (Spring in Disko) project was financed by grant DFF–1323-00258 from the Danish Research Council to N.L.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024, The Author(s).

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