Potential for biot-prospecting in polar regions

A variety of adaptations to different environmental conditions make polar organisms interesting for bio-prospecting. For many of the shown habitats, the biodiversity and adaptions are not completely known yet. Due to the inaccessibility, some areas such as the Antarctic deep sea and the benthos beneath ice shelves are nearly completely unknown. Organisms that have been of interest for biotechnology are highlighted schematically in orange. The planktonic organisms include bacteria, amoeba and archaea but also larger animals such as Antarctic krill. Sketch not to scale. Based on Griffiths et al. (2021), Huang et al. (2020), Margesin (2017) and Thomas et al. (2008).