Abstract
Terrestrial blue-green algaeScytonema millei, Phormidium bohneri andLyngbya mesotricha survived to 100 % at atmospheric temperatures of 5–36 °C and relative humidity 55–100 % in rainy, winter and spring seasons but the survival was 15–25 % in summer when atmospheric temperature reached 48 °C and relative humidity was ≤23 %Microcoleus chthonoplastes maximum survival was ≈80 % in rainy season followed by a decrease to ≈1/2 and 1/4 level in winter and spring, respectively; it disappeared in summer but a few cells and/or trichomes enclosed within sheath may be surviving sticking to soil, not evident microscopically, since the population reappeared at the same place with the onset of rain. Terrestrial green algaRhizoclonium crassipellitum survived only in spring and died at the onset of summer without forming any dormant cell and/or reproductive structure. OnlyP. bohneri survived better and longer under submerged conditions in liquid medium than air-exposed on moist soil surface in the culture chamber, while the other algae fared almost equally or slightly better air-exposed on moist soil surface (or even on 2 % agarized medium) than when suspended in liquid medium, indicating that air exposure rather than submerged conditions was needed for most of the terrestrial algae to survive. Water stress imposed on growing algae either on high-agar-solid media or in 0.2–0.6 mol/L NaCl liquid media in the culture chamber reduced vegetative survival in all; it resulted in death without any dormant cell remaining. When stored in desiccators over fused CaCl2,M. chthonoplastes died within 1/2 month,R. crassipellitum andL. mesotricha within 1 month,P. bohneri within 1 1/2 month, andS. millei not even within 1 1/2 month, indicating their survival pattern against atmospheric dryness to be wide; it also explained theM. chthonoplastes absence in summer andS. millei presence throughout the year. At increased atmospheric humidity the desiccation-sensitive algae (e.g., M. chthonoplastes) survived better than a desiccation-resistant alga (hereS. millei). All algae survived considerable darkness (S. millei >1 1/2 month;P. bohneri, M. chthonoplastes andR. crassipellitum >1 month, andL. mesotricha >1/2 month), and low light intensity of 2 and 10 µmol m−2 s−1 which explains their prolific growth in shady places. All algae were differently sensitive to wet heat (45 °C for 5–40 min) and to UV shock (0.96–3.84 kJ/m2).
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Gupta, S., Agrawal, S.C. Survival of blue-green and green algae under stress conditions. Folia Microbiol 51, 121–128 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932166
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02932166