Natural and societal consequences of climate-forced changes of Jostedalsbreen Ice Cap
JOSTEDALSBREEN ECOSYSTEMS HARBOUR ANTIBIOTIC-RESISTANT BACTERIA
by Jacob Yde, November 19, 2024
The presence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the environment, which limits therapeutic options, poses a significant threat to public health. Now, a new study by Makowska-Zawierucha and colleagues shows that antibiotic-resistant bacteria thrive in glacial ecosystems at Austerdalsbreen, indicating that antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be more widespread in glacier environments than previously expected.
Very little is known about antibiotic-resistant bacteria in glacial environments. In a new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research, Nicoletta Makowska-Zawierucha from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, and co-workers investigate the diversity and abundance of antibiotic resistance genes in culturable bacteria at Austerdalsbreen. The target glacial ecosystems were glacier mice, which are moss balls living on the glacier surface, and an expanding glacial lake that has formed in front of the glacier because of climate-forced glacier retreat.
The proglacial lake and glacier front of Austerdalsbreen in September 2024 (photo: Jacob Yde).
The researchers discovered a wide variety of antibiotic resistance genes in both the glacier mice and glacial lake, some associated with faeces-derived bacteria such as E. coli. The source of these bacteria could be from local wildlife such as lemmings living near the glacier front, or from domestic animals such as sheep grazing in the valley downstream from the glacier. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria could also be carried to glacier ecosystems by wind transport over longer distances. The antibiotic-resistant bacteria from glaciers may then be entrained into meltwater and transported by the glacier river to lakes and fjords.
The study reveals that a lot remains unknown about the microbial ecology in glacier environments and how climate changes will affect storage and release of biotic pollutants and antibiotic-resistant bacteria from glaciers.