Journal
PROTOPLASMA
Volume 258, Issue 6, Pages 1187-1199Publisher
SPRINGER WIEN
DOI: 10.1007/s00709-021-01620-6
Keywords
Aeroterrestrial microalgae; Desiccation; Growth rates; Photosynthetic irradiance curve; MAAs; Polyols
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Funding
- Austrian Science Foundation (FWF) [I 1951-B16]
- German Research Council (DFG) [KA899/16-1/2/3/4, GL 909/1-1, SPP 1991]
- Projekt DEAL
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The study provides a detailed overview of the ecophysiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural traits of a green alga living on tree bark. The alga, identified as Diplosphaera chodatii, showed low light requirements and high desiccation tolerance, with recovery of 85% of its initial value after controlled desiccation at a relative humidity of around 10%. The alga contained protective compounds sucrose and sorbitol against desiccation and a newly detected mycosporine-like amino acid with potential protective effects.
Single-celled green algae within the Trebouxiophyceae (Chlorophyta) are typical components of terrestrial habitats, which often exhibit harsh environmental conditions for these microorganisms. This study provides a detailed overview of the ecophysiological, biochemical, and ultrastructural traits of an alga living on tree bark. The alga was isolated from a cypress tree in the Botanical Garden of Innsbruck (Austria) and identified by morphology and molecular phylogeny as Diplosphaera chodatii. Transmission electron microscopy after high-pressure freezing (HPF) showed an excellent preservation of the ultrastructure. The cell wall was bilayered with a smooth inner layer and an outer layer of polysaccharides with a fuzzy hair-like appearance that could possibly act as cell-cell adhesion mechanism and hence as a structural precursor supporting biofilm formation together with the mucilage observed occasionally. The photosynthetic-irradiance curves of D. chodatii indicated low light requirements without photoinhibition at high photon flux densities (1580 mu mol photons m(-2) s(-1)) supported by growth rate measurements. D. chodatii showed a high desiccation tolerance, as 85% of its initial value was recovered after controlled desiccation at a relative humidity of similar to 10%. The alga contained the low molecular weight carbohydrates sucrose and sorbitol, which probably act as protective compounds against desiccation. In addition, a new but chemically not elucidated mycosporine-like amino acid was detected with a molecular mass of 332 g mol(-1) and an absorption maximum of 324 nm. The presented data provide various traits which contribute to a better understanding of the adaptive mechanisms of D. chodatii to terrestrial habitats.
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