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Light, Temperature, and Desiccation Effects on Photosynthetic Activity, and Drought-Induced Ultrastructural Changes in the Green Alga Klebsormidium dissectum (Streptophyta) from a High Alpine Soil Crust

  • Environmental Microbiology
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Abstract

Members of the cosmopolitan green algal genus Klebsormidium (Klebsormidiales, Streptophyta) are typical components of terrestrial microbiotic communities such as biological soil crusts, which have many important ecological functions. In the present study, Klebsormidium dissectum (Gay) Ettl & Gärtner was isolated from a high alpine soil crust in the Tyrolean Alps, Austria. Physiological performance in terms of growth and photosynthesis was investigated under different controlled abiotic conditions and compared with ultrastructural changes under the treatments applied. K. dissectum showed very low light requirements as reflected in growth patterns and photosynthetic efficiency. Increasing temperatures from 5°C to 40°C led to different effects on respiratory oxygen consumption and photosynthetic oxygen evolution. While at low temperatures (5–10°C), respiration was not detectable or on a very low level, photosynthesis was relatively high, Reversely, at the highest temperature, respiration was unaffected, and photosynthesis strongly inhibited pointing to strong differences in temperature sensitivity between both physiological processes. Although photosynthetic performance of K. dissectum was strongly affected under short-term desiccation and recovered only partly after rehydration, this species was capable to survive even 3 weeks at 5% relative air humidity. K. dissectum cells have a cell width of 5.6 ± 0.3 μm and a cell length of 8.4 ± 2.0 μm. Desiccated cells showed a strongly reduced cell width (46% of control) and cell length (65% of control). In addition, in desiccated cells, fewer mitochondria were stained by DIOC6, and damaged plasma membranes were detected by FM 1–43 staining. High-pressure freeze fixation as well as chemical fixation allowed visualizing ultrastructural changes caused by desiccation. In such cells, the nucleus and chloroplast were still visibly intact, but the extremely thin cell walls (75–180 nm) were substantially deformed. The cytoplasm appeared electron dense and mitochondria were altered. Although K. dissectum can be characterized as euryoecious species, all ecophysiological and ultrastructural data indicate susceptibility to desiccation. However, the steadily occurring fragmentation of filaments into smaller units leads to improved self protection and thus may represent a life strategy to better survive longer periods of drought in exposed alpine soil crusts.

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Acknowledgements

The present investigation was undertaken during the first author's sabbatical at the University of Innsbruck in Prof. Cornelius Lütz's laboratory. We thank W. Kofler, Institute of Botany, University of Innsbruck for SEM preparations. Prof. U. Lütz-Meindl, University of Salzburg is kindly acknowledged for providing access to her Leica high-pressure freezing device. We thank Mag. A. Andosch, University of Salzburg for technical help with the freeze substitution. Dr. Thomas Pröschold, University of Vienna, undertook the ITS2 rRNA analysis. Financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (KA899/16-1/2) is gratefully acknowledged by U.K. The study has been supported by a Research Grant from the “Universitätszentrum Obergurgl”, University of Innsbruck to A.H. The authors are grateful to Dr. Daniel Remias for technical support with the photosynthetic oxygen measurements. The authors like to thank Dr. Angelika Tschaikner and Prof. Georg Gärtner for species identification, as well as Prof. Christian Wiencke for lending the PAM.

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  1. Applied Ecology, University of Rostock, Institute of Biological Sciences, Albert-Einstein-Strasse 3, 18057, Rostock, Germany

    Ulf Karsten

  2. Functional Plant Biology, University of Innsbruck, Institute of Botany, Sternwartestrasse 15, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Andreas Holzinger

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  1. Ulf Karsten
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Correspondence to Ulf Karsten.

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Karsten, U., Holzinger, A. Light, Temperature, and Desiccation Effects on Photosynthetic Activity, and Drought-Induced Ultrastructural Changes in the Green Alga Klebsormidium dissectum (Streptophyta) from a High Alpine Soil Crust. Microb Ecol 63, 51–63 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-011-9924-6

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