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Spatial and Temporal Variations in Pigment and Species Compositions of Snow Algae on Mt. Tateyama in Toyama Prefecture, Japan
- Source :
- Frontiers in Plant Science, Vol 12 (2021), Frontiers in Plant Science
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- Frontiers Media S.A., 2021.
-
Abstract
- Snow algae are photosynthetic microbes that inhabit the melting snow surface in alpine and polar regions. We analyzed the pigment and species composition of colored snow collected on Mt. Tateyama in Japan during the melting seasons of 2015 and 2016. High-performance liquid chromatographic analyses of the pigments extracted from the colored snow showed that their composition varied within the study area and were classified into four types: Type A (astaxanthin-monoester dominant), Type B (medium astaxanthin-monoester content), Type C (abundant primary carotenoids and free-astaxanthin), and Type D (abundant primary carotenoids and astaxanthin diesters). Types A and B were most commonly observed in the study area, whereas Types C and D appeared only at specific sites. Analysis of the 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA) gene revealed six major amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) of snow algae, belonging to the Sanguina, Chloromonas, and Chlainomonas groups. The relative abundance of the algal ASVs showed that Sanguina was dominant (>48%) in both Types A and B, suggesting that the difference in astaxanthin abundance between the two types was caused by the production of pigments in the algal cells. The algal community structures of Types C and D differed from those of Types A and B, indicating that the primary carotenoids and astaxanthin diesters were derived from certain algal species in these types. Therefore, astaxanthin-rich Sanguina algae mostly induced the red snow that appeared widely in this alpine area; however, they were partially dominated by Chloromonas or Chlainomonas algae, causing different pigment compositions.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine
snow algae
Plant Science
Photosynthesis
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
SB1-1110
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
red snow
Algae
Chloromonas
Astaxanthin
Botany
Chlainomonas
Carotenoid
Relative species abundance
Original Research
chemistry.chemical_classification
biology
phylogenetic analysis
Plant culture
pigment composition
biology.organism_classification
Snow
astaxanthin
Sanguina
18S rRNA
030104 developmental biology
chemistry
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Volume :
- 12
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Frontiers in Plant Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....13f211dcf3625ab2f72e002960bfc560