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Identity and physiology of a new psychrophilic eukaryotic green alga, Chlorella sp., strain BI, isolated from a transitory pond near Bratina Island, Antarctica

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Abstract

Permanently low temperature environments are one of the most abundant microbial habitats on earth. As in most ecosystems, photosynthetic organisms drive primary production in low temperature food webs. Many of these phototrophic microorganisms are psychrophilic; however, functioning of the photosynthetic processes of these enigmatic psychrophiles (the “photopsychrophiles”) in cold environments is not well understood. Here we describe a new chlorophyte isolated from a low temperature pond, on the Ross Ice Shelf near Bratina Island, Antarctica. Phylogenetic and morphological analyses place this strain in the Chlorella clade, and we have named this new chlorophyte Chlorella BI. Chlorella BI is a psychrophilic species, exhibiting optimum temperature for growth at around 10°C. However, psychrophily in the Antarctic Chlorella was not linked to high levels of membrane-associated poly-unsaturated fatty acids. Unlike the model Antarctic lake alga, Chlamydomonas raudensis UWO241, Chlorella BI has retained the ability for dynamic short term adjustment of light energy distribution between photosystem II (PS II) and photosystem I (PS I). In addition, Chlorella BI can grow under a variety of trophic modes, including heterotrophic growth in the dark. Thus, this newly isolated photopsychrophile has retained a higher versatility in response to environmental change than other well studied cold-adapted chlorophytes.

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Abbreviations

A:

Antheraxanthin

Chl-a :

Chlorophyll a

Chl-b :

Chlorophyll b

EPS:

Epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle

F 685,695,715 :

77 K Fluorescence emission maxima at 685, 695, 715 nm

FAMEs:

Fatty acid methyl esters

LHC II:

Light harvesting II

PAR:

Photosynthetically active radiation

PS I:

Photosystem I

PS II:

Photosystem II

PUFAs:

Polyunsaturated fatty acids

T op :

Optimal growth temperature

T max :

Maximum growth temperature

V:

Violaxanthin

Z:

Zeaxanthin

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Bruce Kingham at the University of Delaware Sequencing facility for sequencing reactions. We would also like to thank personnel at The Mass Spectrometry Facility at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for training and advice regarding the Quattro MS. This work was supported in part through grants from the National Science and Engineering Council of Canada (NPAH & AGI) and the National Science Foundation grants MCB 0237335 (TEH) & NSF-OPP 0631494 (JCP & RMK).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology, Miami University, 700 E. High Street, Oxford, OH, 45045, USA

    Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss

  2. Department of Biology and The Biotron, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Alexander G. Ivanov & Norman P. A. Hüner

  3. Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, DE, 19711, USA

    Shannon Modla, Kirk Czymmek & Thomas E. Hanson

  4. Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA

    John C. Priscu

  5. USGS Centre for Coastal and Watershed Research, St Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    John T. Lisle

  6. College of Marine and Earth Studies, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19711, USA

    Thomas E. Hanson

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  1. Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss
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Correspondence to Rachael M. Morgan-Kiss.

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Morgan-Kiss, R.M., Ivanov, A.G., Modla, S. et al. Identity and physiology of a new psychrophilic eukaryotic green alga, Chlorella sp., strain BI, isolated from a transitory pond near Bratina Island, Antarctica. Extremophiles 12, 701–711 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-008-0176-4

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