Irina Alekhina

Irina Alekhina
Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute | AARI · CERL

About

162
Publications
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Introduction
Irina Alekhina currently works at the CERL, Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute.

Publications

Publications (162)
Article
Bacterial strains isolated from root nodules of the legume plant Hedysarum arcticum B. Fedtsch growing on Samoylovsky Island in the Lena River delta (Arctic zone of Yakutia) were assigned to the genera Rhizobium (family Rhizobiaceae) and Mesorhizobium (Phyllobacteriaceae) of the order Hyphomicrobiales (class Alphaproteobacteria) according to the rr...
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The complete genome sequence of Sphingomonas sp. strain 7/4-4, which was isolated from the root nodule of the circumpolar legume Astragalus tugarinovii Basil, is reported. The assembly contains 4,423,370 bp in 1 circular chromosome, with a GC content of 65.94%. The genome sequence of strain 7/4-4 could provide insights into the metabolic potential...
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Over 400 lakes exist beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. They range from giant stable lakes at the centre of the ice sheet, isolated from the atmosphere for millions of years, to small through-flow pockets of water beneath fast-flowing ice streams. Subglacial lakes likely harbour unique micro-organisms, adapted to the extreme conditions such as pressu...
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The main results after the first unlocking into the subglacial Lake Vostok were as follows: the Lake had been opened and not polluted; the water pressure within the lake was not balanced by a column of the drilling liquid that resulted in unplanned rise of water in the borehole up to 340 m. The main problem during the drilling in the lake ice was t...
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Abstract: Drilling fluid (DF) is one of the main sources of chemical and biological contamination of deep ice cores and lake water samples in the exploration of Subgalcial Antarctic Lake Environments (SALE). In this study, we investigated the contamination of an ice core that represented the first samples of refrozen lake water obtained 1 year afte...
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Antarctic lake ecosystems provide a rare opportunity to study the evolution and adaptation of microorganisms to extreme conditions, as well as to discover new species useful for biotechnological applications. Four water samples were collected from various layers of the water column of freshwater Lake Radok in East Antarctica. Two regions (v3-v5 and...
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Work on the project focused on the following five areas: 1) field works in Antarctica at Vostok and Concordia stations; 2) experimental and theoretical studies in the field of ice core and paleoclimate research; 3) experimental and theoretical works related to the exploration of subglacial Lake Vostok; 4) development of technology and drilling equi...
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The role of aerial dispersal in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains poorly understood, mainly due to a lack of coordinated efforts in gathering data at appropriate temporal and spatial scales. It has been long known that the rate of dispersal to an ecosystem can significantly influence ecosystem dynamics, and that aerial transport has been ide...
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After more than a decade of planning, three attempts were made in 2012-2013 to access, measure in situ properties and directly sample subglacial Antarctic lake environments. First, Russian scientists drilled into the top of Lake Vostok, allowing lake water to infiltrate, and freeze within, the lower part of the ice-core borehole, from which further...
Book
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After more than a decade of planning, measurements and samples from subglacial Antarctica have revealed a viable ecosystem at the ice sheet bed. Reaching this finding has not been easy. In February 2012, Russian scientists proved that subglacial lakes could be accessed by drilling into the roof of Lake Vostok, 3.7 km beneath the ice surface though...
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Antarctic subglacial lakes can represent extreme natural habitats for microorganisms from the position of their evolution and adaptation, as well as they can contain the information on Antarctic ice sheet history and climatic changes in their sediments. Now only direct measurements and sampling from these habitats can answer on many fundamental que...
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Antarctic Subglacial Lake Exploration: First Results and Future Plans; Chicheley Hall, U. K.; 30–31 March 2015
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In November 2010 a new research unit was inaugurated in Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (St. Petersburg) – Climate and Environmental Research Laboratory (CERL) – that became the first lab in Russia dedicated to the complex studies of ice cores, paleoclimate and subglacial environments in Antarctica. The total investments to construct the la...
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Diverse microbial assemblages inhabit subglacial aquatic environments. While few of these environments have been sampled, data reveal that subglacial organisms gain energy for growth from reduced minerals containing nitrogen, iron, and sulfur. Here we investigate the role of microbially mediated sulfur transformations in sediments from Subglacial L...
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Study of fine mineral particles detected on the surface congelation ice core from a depth 3768.4-3769.3 m, indicates they represented 85-90% iron oxide with nickel, zinc, and copper admixture and have a technological origin. Their formation is probably due contact of water with the metal drill bit. The remaining 5-10% particles are predominantly si...
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After unsealing of Lake Vostok by drilling in 2012 (at depth of 3769.3 m), the lake water was risen few hundred meters into the borehole and then frozen. The deepest ice core of the accreted ice (3768.4−3769.3 m), retrieved from the well was covered with brownish film-like deposit which formed as a result of lake water penetration between the drill...
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While it is now recognized that organic matter dominates the present-day atmospheric aerosol load over continents, its sources remain poorly known. The studies of organic species or organic fractions trapped in ice cores may help to overcome this lack of knowledge. Available data on the dissolved (or total) organic carbon (DOC or TOC) content of sn...
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While it is now recognized that organic matter dominates the present-day atmospheric aerosol load over continents, its sources remain poorly known. The studies of organic species or organic fractions trapped in ice cores may help to overcome this lack of knowledge. Available data on the dissolved (or total) organic carbon (DOC or TOC) content of sn...
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The objective was to assess the microbial cell abundance in the surface snow in Central East Antarctica and the fate of microbial genomic DNA during summer short-time exposure to surface climatic (and radiation) conditions at Vostok using flow cytometry and DNA-based methods. The surface snow (until 4m deep) was collected as clean as possible in th...
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The objective was to estimate the genuine microbial content of ice samples from refrozen water (accretion ice) from the subglacial Lake Vostok (Antarctica) buried beneath the 4-km thick East Antarctic ice sheet. The samples were extracted by heavy deep ice drilling from 3659 m below the surface. High pressure, a low carbon and chemical content, iso...
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Microorganisms uplifted during dust storms survive long-range transport in the atmosphere and could colonize high-altitude snow. Bacterial communities in alpine snow on a Mont Blanc glacier, associated with four depositions of Saharan dust during the period 2006-2009, were studied using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and flow cytometry. Also, sand from t...
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A preliminary study has demonstrated that the structure and species composition of microbial communities associated with events of dust deposition from the Sahara Desert to the Mont Blanc glacier varied considerably between samples originating from different time periods. Even for depositions within a single month, the dominant microbial phylotypes...
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The study of chemical impurities trapped in solid precipitation and accumulated in polar ice sheets and high-elevation, midlatitude cold glaciers over the last several hundreds of years provides a unique way to reconstruct our changing atmosphere from the preindustrial era to the present day. Numerous ice core studies of inorganic species have alre...

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