Terrestrial Green Algae Show Higher Tolerance to Dehydration than Do Their Aquatic Sister-Species.

ABSTRACT: Diverse algae possess the ability to recover from extreme desiccation without forming specialized resting structures. Green algal genera such as Tetradesmus (Sphaeropleales, Chlorophyceae) contain temperate terrestrial, desert, and aquatic species, providing an opportunity to compare physiological traits associated with the transition to land in closely related taxa. We subjected six species from distinct habitats to three dehydration treatments varying in relative humidity (RH 5%, 65%, 80%) followed by short- and long-term rehydration. We tested the capacity of the algae to recover from dehydration using the effective quantum yield of photosystem II as a proxy for physiological activity. The degree of recovery was dependent both on the habitat of origin and the dehydration scenario, with

SUBMITTER: Terlova EF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7612456 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature