Ecophysiological and morphological comparison of two populations of <i>Chlainomonas</i> sp. (Chlorophyta) causing red snow on ice-covered lakes in the High Tatras and Austrian Alps.

ABSTRACT: Based on analyses of multiple molecular markers (18S rDNA, ITS1, ITS2 rDNA, rbcL), an alga that causes red snow on the melting ice cover of a high-alpine lake in the High Tatras (Slovakia) was shown to be identical with Chlainomonas sp. growing in a similar habitat in the Tyrolean Alps (Austria). Both populations consisted mostly of smooth-walled quadriflagellates. They occurred in slush, and shared similar photosynthetic performances (photoinhibition above 1300 µmol photons m^-2 s^-1), very high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA, 64% and 74% respectively) and abundant astaxanthin accumulation, comparable to the red spores of Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille. Physiological differences between the Slovak and Austrian populations included

SUBMITTER: Prochazkova L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5940174 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature