Microeukaryotes in the Metagenomes of Late Pleistocene Permafrost Deposits

— The analysis of metagenomes from four Late Pleistocene permafrost samples allowed us to recognize nearly four hundred genera of protists and fungi, as well as nematodes, in the microeukaryotic assemblage. The sample of the ancient oxbow lake sediments is characterized by the highest taxonomic diversity. Heterotrophic protists and autotrophs dominated the deposits that formed under hydromorphic conditions. Fungi, in turn, prevailed in the Ice Complex deposits. In general, metagenomic analysis characterizes the assemblages from permafrost deposits more entirely than the standard methods of enrichment cultivation.