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The Extremophile Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae,Chlorellaceae), A New Chlorella-like Endolithic Alga From Antarctica |
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| Authors: | Teresa P Martins Vitor Ramos Guilherme S Hentschke Raquel Castelo-Branco Adriana Rego Maria Monteiro Ângela Brito Paula Tamagnini S Craig Cary Vitor Vasconcelos Lothar Krienitz Catarina Magalhães Pedro N Leão |
| Institution: | 1. Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal;2. Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal
School of Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand;3. Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal;4. Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal;5. School of Science, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand International Centre for Terrestrial Antarctic Research, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand;6. Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Universidade do Porto, Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, 4450-208 Matosinhos, Portugal Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal;7. Department of Experimental Limnology, Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, D-16775 Stechlin, Germany |
| Abstract: | The McMurdo Dry Valleys constitute the largest ice-free region of Antarctica and one of the most extreme deserts on Earth. Despite the low temperatures, dry and poor soils and katabatic winds, some microbes are able to take advantage of endolithic microenvironments, inhabiting the pore spaces of soil and constituting photosynthesis-based communities. We isolated a green microalga, Endolithella mcmurdoensis gen. et sp. nov, from an endolithic sandstone sample collected in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (Victoria Land, East Antarctica) during the K020 expedition, in January 2013. The single non-axenic isolate (E. mcmurdoensis LEGE Z-009) exhibits cup-shaped chloroplasts, electron-dense bodies, and polyphosphate granules but our analysis did not reveal any diagnostic morphological characters. On the basis of phylogenetic analysis of the 18S rRNA (SSU) gene, the isolate was found to represent a new genus within the family Chlorellaceae. |
| Keywords: | 18S rRNA extremophiles genus LEGEcc microalgae sandstone |