Welcome to the MicroFun home page!

What is MicroFun?

MicroFun is a UNIS-based project, in which we investigate the biodiversity and function of terrestrial and marine microbial eukaryotes in Svalbard. The microbes are critically important to all ecosystems on Earth, as primary producers and decomposers, yet their minute size and our inability to culture most of them has made them difficult to study.

Thus, we know very little about them, especially in remote and inaccessible areas like the high Arctic. At the same time, the Arctic microbes are of special interest since global warming is expected to be most pronounced in the polar regions.

At UNIS we have established a molecular laboratory where we utilize the recent progress in metagenomics to investigate microbial eukaryotic organisms and symbiotic fungi, and refine metatranscriptome methods in order to study their function in the Arctic ecosystem. In the MicroFun project we will utilize state of the art molecular tools to provide a better understanding of the diversity, the functional links and the potential use of both terrestrial and marine Arctic microbial eukaryotes.

More specifically, we will:
• Provide baseline data on the biodiversity and distribution of Arctic microbial eukaryotes, both on a spatial and temporal scale
• Identify key species and their environmental determinants
• Identify the ecological function of microbial eukaryotes by mapping their gene functions
• Examine the potential for bioprospecting among the Arctic microbial eukaryotes

Who are we?

MicroFun is a collaboration between scientists working in the Arctic terrestrial and marine environments. The principle investigators are associate professor Pernille Bronken Eidesen (terrestrial biology), associate professor Tove M. Gabrielsen and post doc Anna Vader (both marine biology) at UNIS.

Map of Svalbard showing the position of the sampling sites BAB (Billefjorden Adolfbukta) and ISA (Isfjorden Adventfjorden).

Field campaigns

To investigate the temporal variability in the Arctic marine microbial community structure and function, we will utilize an ongoing field campaign in Adventfjorden, close to Longyearbyen.

Scientists and crew getting the MIK net ready for a horizontal tow (Photo: Janne E. Søreide/UNIS).

The field campaign started with a midwinter cruise in Isfjorden. With the help of the capable crew of the coastguard vessel “KV Svalbard”, researchers from UNIS and UiT were able to obtain precious polar night samples from both our Arctic model fjord, Billefjorden and our new site for high-resolution temporal samples in Adventfjorden.

A freshly obtained sea water sample is prepared for laboratory analyses (Photo: Ida Helene Funderud Kallevik).

Water samples were obtained from different depths, and vertical and horizontal net tows were used to collect zooplankton and water samples.

In addition, the present oceanographic conditions in the inner part of Isfjorden were recorded using a CTD.

A short-term sediment trap to investigate the vertical flux of organic matter was deployed in Adventfjorden, and successfully recovered in near-gale conditions.

While the species composition and gene expression of the microbes in the water samples await laboratory analyses, plenty (both in numbers and species richness) of zooplankton were collected from surface waters, showing that the ocean is teeming with life, even in the middle of the polar night.

Collecting marine microbes by filtration in the excellent “KV Svalbard” laboratory (Photo: Ida Helene Funderud Kallevik).

Overview of methods