31 December 2025, Volume 36 Issue 4
    

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  • Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 0-0.
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  • Review
  • CHEN Xuejing, BAI Ruiqi, JI Mukan& LIAO Li
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 268-284. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0032
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    Antarctic ice-free areas (<0.4% of the continent) represent Antarctic biodiversity oases, where microbial communities sustain terrestrial ecosystem functions. These habitats—encompassing mineral, ornithogenic soils, biological soil crusts, and hypolithic/endolithic niches—are shaped by environmental factors such as pH, organic C/N ratios, moisture, elevation, and trace element availability. The diversity of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and viruses is lower than in other regions, yet the communities exhibit strong endemism, with site-specific uncultivated lineages. Microorganisms persist through cold and stress adaptations, performing organic carbon decomposition, phototrophy, and oxidation of trace gases to drive carbon and nitrogen cycling in various Antarctic soil habitats. Climate change and anthropogenic disturbances are shifting communities toward copiotrophic generalists, altering elementary cycling and feeding back to climate change. Culturation and genomic-based techniques reveal novel microbial taxa with broad biotechnological potentials on bioactive compounds and cryotolerant enzymes. In summary, this review offers a foundation for exploring Antarctic microbial biodiversity, ecosystem resilience, and the development of novel biotechnologies, while also highlighting the urgent need for effective monitoring and preservation strategies to mitigate the impacts of ongoing environmental changes on Antarctic soil ecosystems.
  • WU Zhouyu, ZHAI Wanying & CHEN Liangbiao
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 285-300. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0021
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    The extreme environment of the polar regions has driven the evolution of unique metabolic mechanisms in microorganisms, resulting in structurally diverse and highly active secondary metabolites. These metabolites are not only crucial for microbial adaptation to extreme conditions, but also exhibit significant potential for applications in medicine, agriculture (e.g., biocontrol), and industry. This review provides a comprehensive overview of 111 secondary metabolites derived from polar microorganisms reported between 2013 and 2025, with a focus on advances in their classification, biological activities, and biosynthetic gene cluster mining techniques. Additionally, it highlights key strategies for advancing future investigations, providing a valuable reference for continued exploration in this promising field. Notably, polar microbial secondary metabolites also hold promising applications in agriculture, particularly in biocontrol, soil health enhancement, and stress-resistant crop development.
  • Articles
  • ZHANG Xiao, LIU Luyang, MA Chuanteng, CHE Qian, LI Dehai & ZHU Tianjiao
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 301-319. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0031
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     A polyketide synthase–nonribosomal peptide synthetase gene cluster twn in Talaromyces sp. HDN1820200 was activated by overexpression of the pathway-specific transcriptional factor TwnD. Large-scale fermentation and chemical investigation of the mutant strain HDN1820200/TwnD led to the discovery of one new polyketide–amino acid conjugate, bipolamide C and one new polyketide compound, variotin A. The structures of the new compounds were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, feeding experiments, NMR calculation and DP4+ analysis. This study revealed that the overexpression of the pathway-specific transcriptional factor represents a promising approach for the discovery of new natural products in fungi within specialized habitat.
  • LYU Zhe, CHU Jiajun LI Dong, ZHANG Xiao-Hua& SHI Xiaochong
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 320-330. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0009
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    Understanding microbial responses to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollution is crucial for assessing the current status of PAH contamination in polar regions. In this study, intertidal and marine sediments were enriched with a mixture of PAHs (naphthalene, phenanthrene, fluorene, pyrene, and fluoranthene). Isolation of culturable bacteria, high-throughput sequencing, and functional prediction were combined to systematically analyze bacterial structural and predicted functional responses to PAH exposure. High-throughput sequencing results showed that the relative abundance of Proteobacteria was significantly increased after enrichment, and Pseudomonas and Acinetobacter were identified as dominant genera under PAH exposure. These findings were consistent with the 19 potential PAH-degrading strains (mainly Pseudomonas) that were successfully isolated from enrichment cultures. Distinct bacterial taxa between enriched marine and intertidal sediments indicated the existence of distinct PAHdegrading groups. PICRUSt2-based functional predictions suggested higher predicted abundances of PAH-degradation pathways in polar sediments, likely through the preferential degradation of parent PAH compounds in response to elevated concentrations. This study provides valuable data on microbial responses to PAH pollution in polar regions and offers new insights for evaluating ecological hazards induced by PAHs.
  • YAN Decun, DING Haitao, LIAO Li & JI Mukan
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 331-344. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0034
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    The Fildes Peninsula is among the Antarctic regions most affected by human activity. As the interface between terrestrial and marine ecosystems, the intertidal is a gateway for ecological and public health risks. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) and virulence factor genes (VFGs) intensify these risks by transferring pathogenic traits via horizontal gene transfer. However, a comprehensive assessment of ARGs and VFGs in Fildes Peninsula intertidal sediments is lacking. We addressed this gap by performing shotgun metagenomic sequencing on 14 intertidal sediments. We detected 20 ARG types comprising 397 subtypes. Multidrug, bacitracin, and polymyxin resistance dominated the resistome, although their overall abundance was relatively low. A total of 4,204 VFGs were identified and were primarily associated with adherence, motility, immune modulation, and effector delivery. The abundance of VFGs was also relatively low and significantly correlated with the abundance of ARGs. Additionally, we also identified 787 mobile genetic elements (MGEs) that carried 138 VFGs but found no ARGs associated with MGEs at the contig level. Host assignment implicated taxa such as Ilumatobacter as major ARG carriers and detected opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa carrying CAM-1, a metallo-β-lactamase gene. In summary, our results reveal a highly diverse but generally low-abundance resistome and virulome in Fildes Peninsula intertidal sediments, with limited evidence for MGE-mediated ARG dissemination. However, they emphasize the necessity of monitoring to protect Antarctic microbial integrity.
  • WANG Jun, LIU Long, ZHAO Yunxia, ZHANG Xinyuan, XU Xiaoyu, ZHU Xiaofeng, KONG Lingkai, CAO Huansheng, WANG Nengfei & DU Jiawen
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 345-355. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0011
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    Research on Antarctic microbial diversity has primarily focused on 3 areas: freshwater lake sediments, penguin colonies, and seawater in ice-free regions. There is a scarcity of research on the impact of slopes on microbial community structure, and this study effectively fills this gap. This study focused on the soil in the sparse vegetated tundra on a hillside near the southern coastline of the Antarctic Great Wall Station. The influence of slope position, soil physicochemical properties, and vegetated area on soil bacterial community structure was analyzed. High-throughput sequencing technology was employed to characterize a 16S rRNA gene fragment in soil samples from 5 slope areas and estimate bacterial abundance. Calculation of α-diversity and β-diversity indices, and community structure analysis were used to compare the species richness among sampling points, analyze similarities in soil bacterial community structure and composition, and identify the core bacterial population. In the non-vegetated area, the soil on the mountaintop, hillside, and at the foot of the slope showed similar physicochemical properties. In the vegetated area, the soil physicochemical properties were highly similar on the mountaintop, hillside, the foot of the slope, and the foot of the mountain. Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis showed that total organic carbon, pH, and PO43–-P might affect the structure of bacterial communities at the sampling point by changing the relative abundance of Chthoniobacterales, Sediminibacterium, and Actinobacteria. We hypothesize that slope-driven nutrient transport, amplified by vegetated areas (in the tundra), is a primary driver of bacterial community structure in the Antarctic tundra soil. These results provide insights into the impact of slope on microbial community structure in Antarctica.
  • ZHOU Zhengyi, ZHAO Jun, Alexander L. VERESHCHAKA, SUN Xiaohong& YANG Guang
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 356-372. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0016
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    Phytoplankton play a pivotal role in the Southern Ocean ecosystem. This study examines the phytoplankton community structure and the environmental factors driving it in the Cosmonaut Sea, based on samples collected using a net during the summer of 2020/2021. We identified 99 phytoplankton species, predominantly comprising diatoms and dinoflagellates. Among these, diatoms—notably Pseudo-nitzschia, Chaetoceros, and Fragilariopsis, dominated the community in terms of species richness, abundance, and biomass. Endemic species of the Southern Ocean, such as Corethron pennatum, Proboscia alata, and Cylindrotheca closterium, also made significant contributions. Phytoplankton abundance and biomass showed similar spatial distribution patterns, with hotspots in the northern section of the survey area that gradually diminished towards the coastal regions. The oceanic area exhibited low phytoplankton diversity but pronounced regional variations in community distribution, with the northern region emerging as a key zone for abundance, biomass, and diversity. Nutrient distribution was identified as the primary environmental driver shaping the phytoplankton community, with silicate levels having a significant negative impact on overall phytoplankton abundance and the dominant species.
  • LI Wenxiong, YING Yiping, ZHANG Jichang, ZHAO Yunxia, ZHU Jiancheng, FAN Gangzhou, MU Xiuxia& WANG Xinliang
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 373-391. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0028
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    Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba), widely distributes around Antarctica, is a key species supporting the biodiversity of the Southern Ocean ecosystem. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has thus managed the krill fishery according to a precautionary way. Currently, CCAMLR is making effort to develop a refined krill fishery management approach based on more solid science, which requires accurate predictions of krill distribution. To address this need, this study investigated the effects of algorithm and spatial resolution on the performance of Antarctic krill distribution modelling. We integrated acoustic data from 4 surveys conducted in the waters adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula with 11 environmental variables characterizing krill prey conditions, water mass properties, and seafloor topography. These data were processed at 4 spatial resolutions (5, 10, 15, and 20 km) to fit distribution models using 4 algorithms: Random Forests (RF), Generalized Additive Models (GAM), Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Model performance was assessed and compared in terms of goodness-of-fit and predictive accuracy. The results showed that RF achieved the highest predictive performance at most resolutions, whereas GAM performed best at the coarsest resolution (20 km). XGBoost closely following RF in accuracy and demonstrated robustness as evidenced by the highly consistent partial dependence curves across resolutions. In contrast, ANN exhibited limitations with smaller sample sizes, resulting in comparatively poorer predictive performance. The analysis revealed a trade-off whereby reducing spatial resolution improved model fit and mitigated zero-inflation at the expense of fine-scale information and overall predictive accuracy. Ensemble models, integrating RF, GAM, and XGBoost, are proposed as potential balanced solutions to improve predictive stability, offering a more robust scientific basis for the refinement of krill management.
  • WEI Lian, YU Yong, XU Bo, GAO Zhiwei & DING Haitao
    Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 392-404. https://doi.org/10.12429/j.advps.2025.0018
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    Samples for this study were collected from Geologists Island and Prydz Bay in different seasons. Otolith sections were analyzed for elemental composition in the nucleus, juvenile, and edge areas. Elements including Mg, Sr, P, K, Fe, and Zn, normalized to calcium (CMe/CCa), were selected for analysis. To explore population structure, factors influencing during life stage, and regional distribution characteristics. For identified individual origins and explored the distribution and migration between regions and migration from hatching to adulthood provide a basis. So as to understand the distribution and migration pattern of Pagothenia borchgrevinki across various life history stages. Results indicated a consistent P. borchgrevinki population spawning across various regions of Southern Ocean, with eggs distributed at the bottom. Coastal slope topography changes and water compensation facilitated egg transportation from the bottom to under sea ice during hatching to juvenile stages. Long-distance migration was facilitated by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and regional currents during development to adulthood. Multiple spawning grounds and ocean currents contributed to diverse distribution environments during the hatching period. Differences in individual development were important factors during the juvenile period, while ocean currents and autonomous behaviors influenced regional transportation patterns in the post development stages. Therefore, the research holds that differences in distribution environment and behavior during each period led to distinct factors influencing CMe/CCa variations.
  • Annoucements
  • Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 405-405.
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  • Advances in Polar Science. 2025, 36(4): 406-406.
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