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Chilling out: the evolution and diversification of psychrophilic algae with a focus on Chlamydomonadales

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Abstract

The Earth is a cold place. Most of it exists at or below the freezing point of water. Although seemingly inhospitable, such extreme environments can harbour a variety of organisms, including psychrophiles, which can withstand intense cold and by definition cannot survive at more moderate temperatures. Eukaryotic algae often dominate and form the base of the food web in cold environments. Consequently, they are ideal systems for investigating the evolution, physiology, and biochemistry of photosynthesis under frigid conditions, which has implications for the origins of life, exobiology, and climate change. Here, we explore the evolution and diversification of photosynthetic eukaryotes in permanently cold climates. We highlight the known diversity of psychrophilic algae and the unique qualities that allow them to thrive in severe ecosystems where life exists at the edge. We focus on psychrophilic green algae from the Chlamydomonadales, discussing recent discoveries and directions for future research, and argue that they are among the best available models for studying psychrophily and life at the edge in photosynthetic eukaryotes.

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Acknowledgments

MC is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. NPAH and DRS are each funded by a Discovery Grant from NSERC. NPAH is grateful for support through the Canadian Foundation for Innovation and the Canada Research Chairs Programme.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Marina Cvetkovska, Norman P. A. Hüner & David Roy Smith

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  1. Marina Cvetkovska
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  2. Norman P. A. Hüner
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  3. David Roy Smith
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Correspondence to Norman P. A. Hüner.

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Online resource 1

Biodiversity and distribution of confirmed psychrophilic algae to date. Only algae with temperature survival limits confirmed in laboratory-grown culture experiments are included in this analysis. Species that have been isolated from cold environments but their growth rates have not been tested in laboratory experiment are not included in this table, since such species could be psychrotrophs. Similarly, efforts are being made to describe the distribution and diversity of phototrophs in cold environments using nucleic acid sequencing of environmental samples (Dolhi et al. 2015; Bielewicz et al. 2011); however, such findings are not included in this table since the psychrophilic nature of the organisms cannot be confirmed. Algae culture collections, such as the Bigelow National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota, contain a number of organisms isolated from permanently cold environments (https://ncma.bigelow.org/products/algae/cold-water); however, most of these organisms have not been characterized in terms of their psychrophilic traits and, thus, were not included in this table. Note that some species have an uncertain taxonomy and could represent a polyphyletic clade instead of a single species (indicated by *). In certain cases, the growth of the organisms depends not only on cold temperatures, but also on a different environmental factor (salinity or interactions with other organisms; indicated by **). Some species have been isolated from multiple cold environments; however, the habitats in the table correspond to the original specie description (indicated by ***) (XLSX 20 kb)

Online resource 2

A summary of permanent environmental stresses faced by UWO241 in its natural habitat and the adaptations developed in response to these conditions. Shaded boxes correspond to work that is planned or currently in progress (PDF 20 kb)

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Cvetkovska, M., Hüner, N.P.A. & Smith, D.R. Chilling out: the evolution and diversification of psychrophilic algae with a focus on Chlamydomonadales. Polar Biol 40, 1169–1184 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-016-2045-4

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