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Phenotypic and phylogenetic studies of benthic mat-forming cyanobacteria on the NW Svalbard

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Abstract

Cold habitats are diminishing as a result of climate change, while at the same time little is known of the diversity or biogeography of microbes that thrive in such environments. Furthermore, despite the evident importance of cyanobacteria in polar areas, there are hardly any studies focusing on the phylogenetic relationship between the Arctic and Antarctic cyanobacteria. Here, we described cyanobacterial mats as well as epi- and endoliths collected from shallow streams and rocks, respectively, in the northwestern part of Svalbard. Thirteen populations were identified and characterized by employing morphological and molecular (16S rRNA gene sequences) techniques. Our results were compared to analogous information (available from the GenBank) and related to organisms from similar environments located in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. In general, the morphological and molecular characterizations complemented each other, and the identified Arctic populations belonged to the following orders: Oscillatoriales (6), Nostocales (6), and Chroococcales (1). Twelve of the identified polar populations showed high similarity (94–99% 16S rRNA gene sequence) when compared to other Arctic and Antarctic cyanobacteria. Mat builder Phormidium autumnale shared only 88% similarity with sequences deposited in the GenBank. Our results demonstrate remarkable similarities of microbial life of Svalbard to that in Antarctica and the High Himalayas. Our findings are a starting point for future comparative research of the benthic as well as endolithic populations of cyanobacteria from the Arctic and Antarctica that will yield new insights into the cold and dry limits of life on Earth. They imply global distributions of the low-temperature cyanobacterial populations throughout the cold terrestrial biosphere.

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Acknowledgements

Research was supported by the DFG project PA 842/9-1. The authors thank Dr. Stefano Ventura and CNR-Polarnet for the use of the Italian polar station “Dirigibile Italia” in Ny-Ålesund; Dr. Ewa Jarosz for the proof-reading of the manuscript and English improvement, and Jozef Wiktor jr for the preparation of the Svalbard map.

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  1. Department of Marine Biology and Ecology, Institute of Oceanography, University of Gdansk, Al. Pilsudskiego 46, 81-378, Gdynia, Poland

    K. A. Palinska & W. Surosz

  2. Plant Biodiversity and Evolution Group, Department of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, PO Box 2503, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany

    K. A. Palinska & T. Schneider

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  1. K. A. Palinska
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Palinska, K.A., Schneider, T. & Surosz, W. Phenotypic and phylogenetic studies of benthic mat-forming cyanobacteria on the NW Svalbard. Polar Biol 40, 1607–1616 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-017-2083-6

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