Microbial diversity in the samples from archeological complexes of the Pazyryk culture (IV–III centuries BC) in northwestern Mongolia

Prokaryotes were analyzed in the samples of ice and soils collected by the joint Russian-German-Mongolian expedition (2006) at the site of archeological excavations of two Pazyryk culture mounds in the upper Olon-Kurin-Gol River on the southern slope of the Saylyugem Mountains, Mongolian Altai. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene fragments of the cultured bacteria revealed three major groups wide-spread in permafrost soils: Firmicutes, Actinobacteria , and Gammaproteobacteria . Analysis of the total DNA from the samples revealed nonculturable bacteria of the phyla Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Deltaproteobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatoidetes, Firmicutes , and CFB ( Cytophaga-Flavobacteria-Bacteroidetes ) isolated from the samples of permafrost soils (Arctic, tundra, and from Tibet highlands), groundwater, and Arctic and Antarctic ice cores.