Cold Adaptation Mechanisms of a Snow Alga Chlamydomonas nivalis During Temperature Fluctuations.

ABSTRACT: Cold environments, such as glaciers and alpine regions, constitute unique habitats for organisms living on Earth. In these harsh ecosystems, snow algae survive, florish, and even become primary producers for microbial communities. How the snow algae maintain physiological activity during violent ambient temperature changes remains unsolved. To explore the cold adaptation mechanisms of the unicellular snow alga Chlamydomonas nivalis, we compared its physiological responses to a model organism from the same genus, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. When both cell types were exposed to a shift from 22°C to 4°C, C. nivalis exhibited an apparent advantage in cold tolerance over C. reinhardtii, as C. nivalis had both a higher growth rate and photosynthetic efficiency.

SUBMITTER: Peng Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7874021 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature