ИСТИНА

Different culture depended and independent methods were used to study activity and diversity of bacterial communities in earlier not investigated four types of soils in inter-hill wet valleys of Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica. The estimation of biological activity in soils was conducted using the analysis of the dynamics of the soil enzyme activity and CO2 emission as the samples were thawing. The specification of physical and chemical processes in Antarctic permanently frozen soils and role of biofilms, where microorganisms are intimately associated with each other and mineral particles through binding and inclusion within exopolymer matrix are discussed in the aspect of their influence on biological activity and life preservation in Antarctic soils.