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Heterocytous cyanobacteria of the Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, Antarctica

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Abstract

The Antarctic cyanobacterial microflora is one of the main components of the diversity of freshwater phototrophic communities in coastal areas. It is little known according to the modern taxonomic criteria (polyphasic approach). Populations of heterocytous cyanobacteria from Ulu Peninsula, the northern part of James Ross Island, NW Weddell Sea, Antarctica, were therefore reviewed. The identified morphospecies were compared with specimens from other localities in maritime Antarctica, especially from the South Shetland Islands. Ecological demands, morphological variations and, if possible, their phylogenetic positions (based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing) of registered populations were analyzed. Altogether, 11 species of heterocytous cyanoprokaryotes were recognized and studied in detail. These species were dominant in the characteristic habitats, and four novel species were described. All have a restricted endemic Antarctic distribution according to both morphology and 16S rRNA gene analyses. Three species of the genus Calothrix, one species of the genus Dichothrix (Rivulariaceae), and four species from the family Tolypotrichaceae were recognized and documented. Few species from this family belong to the recently recognized and revised genera Dactylothamnos and Hassallia, based on molecular analyses. Nodularia quadrata and two species, taxonomically classified to the genus Hydrocoryne (Nostocaceae), were studied. The complex of the genus Nostoc (especially of N. commune) exists as numerous morpho- and ecotypes, and it is diverse phylogenetically, morphologically and ecologically, and will be analyzed in special studies. Our study is important for the exact identification of cyanobacterial microflora in Antarctica, which plays a dominant role in the colonization of deglaciated areas.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to organizers of the Antarctic expeditions, in which were obtained the majority of the presented results; J. Komárek and J. Elster worked mainly at the Polish “Henryk Arctowski Station” (Admiralty Bay, King George Island) and Czech “Johann Mendel Station” on James Ross Island. D.B. Genuário participated in two Brazilian expeditions of the Brazilian Antarctic Program (PROANTAR) and received a FAPESP graduate scholarship (2010/00321-3). This study was supported as a long-term research development project no. RVO67985939, GAP506/12/1818 and by the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic project CzechPolar LM 2010009. We would also like to thank Mrs Dana Švehlová and Jana Šnokhousová for essential technical help. English language correction was performed by Keith Edwards.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences CR, Dukelská 135, 37982, Třeboň, Czech Republic

    Jiří Komárek & Josef Elster

  2. Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 35, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jiří Komárek & Josef Elster

  3. Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Avenida Centenário 303, Piracicaba, SP, 13400-970, Brazil

    Diego Bonaldo Genuário & Marli Fatima Fiore

Authors
  1. Jiří Komárek
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  2. Diego Bonaldo Genuário
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  3. Marli Fatima Fiore
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  4. Josef Elster
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Correspondence to Jiří Komárek.

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Komárek, J., Genuário, D.B., Fiore, M.F. et al. Heterocytous cyanobacteria of the Ulu Peninsula, James Ross Island, Antarctica. Polar Biol 38, 475–492 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-014-1609-4

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