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Abstract The perennial ice-covered lakes of the Antarctic McMurdo Dry Valleys harbour oligotrophic microbial communities that are separated geographically from other aquatic systems. Their microbiomes include planktonic microbes as well as lift-off mat communities that emerge from the ice. We used the ShortBRED protein family profiler to quantify the antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) from metagenomes of lift-off mats emerging from ice and from filtered water samples of Lake Fryxell and Lake Bonney. The overall proportion of ARG hits was similar to that found in temperate-zone rural ponds with moderate human inputs. Specific ARGs showed distinct distributions for the two lakes and for mat vs planktonic sources. Metagenomic taxa distributions showed that mat phototrophs consisted mainly of cyanobacteria or Betaproteobacteria, whereas the water column phototrophs were mainly protists. An enrichment culture of the Betaproteobacterium Rhodoferax antarcticus from a Lake Fryxell mat sample showed an unusual mat-forming phenotype not previously reported for this species. Its genome showed no ARGs associated with Betaproteobacteria but had ARGs consistent with a minor Pseudomonas component. The Antarctic lake mats and water showed specific ARGs distinctive to the mat and water sources, but overall ARG levels were similar to those of temperate water bodies with moderate human inputs. 

The year 2016 witnessed the fall of a symbol of the botanical world: the historic Chapman baobab of Botswana. This article presents the results of our investigation of the standing and fallen tree. The Chapman baobab had an open ring-shaped structure composed of six partially fused stems. Several wood samples collected from the stems prior and after their collapse were analysed by using radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon date of the oldest sample was 1381 ± 22 BP, which corresponds to a calibrated age of 1345 (+10, −15) calendar years. The dating results show that the six stems of the Chapman baobab belonged to three different generations, which were 1350–1400, 800–1000 and 500–600 years old. The growth rate variation of the largest and oldest stem is presented and correlated with the climate evolution in the area over the past 1000 years. The factors that determined the sudden fall and death of the Chapman baobab are also presented and discussed.