Deuterostichococcus alpinus sp. nov. (Chlorophyta; Trebouxiophyceae) from Antarctica
Vol.15,No.1(2025)
Lichens are the most dominant components in flora of Antarctica. A lichen epiphyte green alga FACHB-2327, isolated from Antarctic lichen Stereocaulon alpinum, was identified as a new species belonging to the genus Deuterostichococcus. The specimen of lichen Stereocaulon alpinum was collected from King George Island, Antarctica. A comprehensive analysis, including morphology, ultrastructure, habitat, phylogeny and secondary structure of SSU rDNA V9 region, was carried out. The green alga FACHB-2327 was described and named as Deuterostichococcus alpinus sp. nov. to recall the continent where it was discovered. The alga FACHB-2327 forms single celled thalli or pseudofilaments up to three cells; cells are cylindrical with mean size 7-18 (20) × 3-5 µm and rounded ends. It can be distinguished from the other species in genus Deuterostichococcus by morphological characters, including cell size, length/width ratio and phylogenetic position using SSU rDNA and ITS rDNA sequences.
Antarctica; lichen; microalgae; Prasiolales; phylogeny; King George Island
Beck, A., Bechteler, J., Casanova-Katny, A. and Dzhilyanova, I. (2019): The pioneer lichen Placopsis in maritime Antarctica: Genetic diversity of their mycobionts and green algal symbionts, and their correlation with deglaciation time. Symbiosis, 79:1-24.
Cao, S. N., Zhang, F., Liu, C. P., Hao, Z. H., Tian, Y., Zhu, L. X. and Zhou, Q. M. (2015): Distribution patterns of haplotypes for symbionts from Umbilicaria esculenta and U. muehlenbergii reflect the importance of reproductive strategy in shaping population genetic structure. BMC Microbiology, 15(1): 212.
Cao, S. N., Zhang, F., Zheng, H. Y., Peng, F., Liu, C. P. and Zhou, Q. M. (2018): Coccomyxa greatwallensis sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta), a lichen epiphytic alga from Fildes Peninsula, Antarctica. Phytokeys, 110: 39-50.
Chiva, S., Moya, P. and Barreno, E. (2022): Lichen phycobiomes as source of biodiversity for microalgae of the Stichococcus-like genera. Biologia, 78: 389-397 doi: 10.1007/s11756-022-01223-3
Ettl, H., Gärtner, G. (2014): Syllabus der Boden-, Luft- und Flechtenalgen. Springer, Berlin and Heidelberg, 773 p. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39462-1
Guiry, M. D., Guiry, G. M. (2019): AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. Available from: https://www.algaebase.org (accessed 4 May 2020).
Kol, E. (1968): Kryobiologie. Biologie und Limnologie des Schnees und Eises. I. Kryovegetation. In: A. Thienemann (Ed.): Die Binnengewässer, 24: 1-216.
Kosecka, M., Guzow-Krzemińska, B., Černajová, I., Škaloud, P., Jabłońska, A. and Kukwa, M. (2021): New lineages of photobionts in Bolivian lichens expand our knowledge on habitat preferences and distribution of Asterochloris algae. Scientific Report, 11: 8701.
Kumar, S., Stecher, G., Li, M., Knyaz, C. and Tamura, K. (2018): MEGA X: Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis across computing platforms. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 35: 1547-1549.
Moewus, L. (1951): Systematische Bestimmung einzelliger grüner Algen auf Grund von Kulturversuchen (Sphaerosorus composita, Oocystis marina und Pseudostichococcus monallantoides). Botaniska Notiser, 1951: 287-318.
Neustupa, J., Eliáš, M. and Šejnohová, L. (2007): A taxonomic study of two Stichococcus species (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) with a starch-enveloped pyrenoid. Nova Hedwigia, 84: 51-63.
Printz, H. (1964): Die Chaetophoralen der Binnengewässer. Hydrobiologia, 24: 1-376.
Pröschold, T., Darienko, T. (2020): The green puzzle Stihcococus (Trebouxiophycee, Chlorophyta): New generic and species concept among this widely distributed genus. Phytotaxa, 441(2): 113-142.
Pröschold, T., Darienko, T. and Guiry, M. D. (2020): Nomenclatural corrections in the green algal genus Deuterostichococcus Pröschold and Darienko (Trebouxiophyceae). Notulae Algarum, 137: 1-2.
Siebert, S., Backofen, R. (2005): MARNA: Multiple alignment and consensus structure prediction of RNAs based on sequence structure comparisons. Bioinformatics, 21: 3352-3359.
Thompson, J. D., Higgins, D. G. and Gibson, T. J. (1994): CLUSTAL W: Improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Research, 22: 4673-4680.
Vančurová, L., Kalníková, V., Peksa, O., Škvorová, Z., Malíček, J., Moya, P., Chytrý, K., Černajová, I. and Škaloud, P. (2020): Symbiosis between river and dry lands: Phycobiont dynamics on river gravel bars. Algal Research, 51: 102062.
White, T. J., Bruns, T., Lee, S. and Taylor, J. (1990): Amplification and direct sequencing of fungal ribosomal RNA genes for phylogenetics. In: M. A. Innis, D. H. Gelfand, J. J. Sninsky, T. J. White (Eds.): PCR Protocols. A Guide to Methods and Applications, Academic Press, San Diego, pp. 315–322.
Yang, Q. H., Zhang, B. Z., Li, M. and Meng, S. (2013): Analysis of weather and sea ice at the Antarctic Great Wall Station in 2012. Chinese Journal of Polar Research, 25: 268-277.
Web sources / Other sources
[1] http://www.aari.aq/KGI/Vegetation/lst_lichens.html
[2] http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/CPD/
Copyright © 2025 Shunan Cao, Chunyan Yang, Huimin Tian, Yue Shen, Fang Peng, Qiming Zhou