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Adaptation of Antarctic Freshwater Green Algae to Extreme Environments

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Polyextremophiles

Part of the book series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology ((COLE,volume 27))

Abstract

Antarctica as the coldest area on earth presents an extremely harsh environment for all living organisms inhabiting this frigid zone. Freshwater green algae, such as Chlamydomonas, Stichococcus, Chlorella, and Scenedesmus, have been isolated from Antarctica. These strains are distributed in all the areas of Antarctica and have successfully adapted to the extreme environmental conditions. The freshwater green algae residing in this area have evolved a set of strategies to counteract the effects of the extremely low and fluctuating temperature, desiccation, ultraviolet radiation, freeze-thaw cycles, etc. These adaptations include the alteration of cell morphology, ultrastructure, physiology, biochemical composition, and gene expression. Currently, although some genes and proteins related to cold adaptation or acclimation have been identified in these algae, the corresponding molecular mechanism is still obscure. The goal of this review is to describe the adaptive strategies of Antarctic freshwater green algae to extreme environments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydrobiology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Hanhua Hu

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  1. Hanhua Hu
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Correspondence to Hanhua Hu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Joseph Seckbach

  2. Dept. of Plant and Env. Sciences, Institute of Life Sciences The Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel

    Aharon Oren

  3. Dept. Mikrobiology, Universität Salzburg FB Molekulare Biologie, Salzburg, Austria

    Helga Stan-Lotter

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Hu, H. (2013). Adaptation of Antarctic Freshwater Green Algae to Extreme Environments. In: Seckbach, J., Oren, A., Stan-Lotter, H. (eds) Polyextremophiles. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 27. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6488-0_18

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