Artemia Biodiversity in Algerian Sebkhas

Abstract

This paper summarizes the results of a study that comprised a survey along with a morphological characterization of Artemia populations from seven sebkhas, one chott, and an inland salt lake in Algeria. Sebkhas and chotts are two different types of closed inland basins. Morphological characters together with a multivariate discriminant analysis applied to morphometric data obtained from adult specimens cultured under standard conditions, were used to differentiate the species and strains. The bisexual species A. salina (L., 1758) is present in seven of these saltmarshes, but frequently cooccurs with diploid and tetraploid parthenogenetic strains. The biodiversity pattern of the populations of Artemia in Algeria appears to be similar to that found in the rest of the western Mediterranean region. RÉSUMÉLe présent article résume les résultats d'une étude sur la localisation et la caractérisation morphologique des populations d'Artemia présentes dans sept sebkhas, un chott et un lac salé en Algérie. Sebkhas et chotts sont deux types différents de bassins fermés d'eaux intérieures. Les caractères morphologiques associés à une analyse discriminante multivariée appliquée aux paramètres morphométriques obtenus à partir d'individus adultes élevés en conditions standardisées ont permis de différencier les espèces et les souches. L'espèce bisexuelle A. salina (L., 1758) a été trouvée dans sept de ces milieux salés, mais fréquemment en présence de souches parthénogénétiques diploïdes et tétraploïdes. Le modèle de diversité biologique des populations d'Artemia d'Algérie est similaire à celui trouvé dans le reste de la Méditerranée occidentale.

Laboratory generation of new parthenogenetic lineages supports contagious parthenogenesis inArtemia

“…Although repeated gene flow between sexual females and asexual males through contagious parthenogenesis would be expected to result in a regular emergence of asexual strains with diverse maternal origins, the fact that just two, possibly three, maternal origins of parthenogenetic lineages have been identified (Muñoz et al, 2010; Maniatsi et al, 2011; Maccari, Amat & Gómez, 2013) indicate that the incidence of contagious parthenogenesis, if this is the mechanism of origin, must be extremely low in natural environments. Indeed, the rare males must be present in the population at the same time as the sexual females of the related species, and given that both parthenogenetic and sexual species often have different ecological requirements, they may overlap just during part of each season (Amat et al, 1991; Ghomari et al, 2011). In addition, the percentage of rare male production by diploid parthenogenetic females is very low, about 1–16 in 1000 (Maccari et al, 2013).…”

Tailoring Next Generation Plant Growth Promoting Microorganisms as Versatile Tools beyond Soil Desalinization: A Road Map towards Field Application

“…The salinized lands will be difficult to recover. Most of these soils is located in arid and semi-arid regions [44]. The salty soils of Algeria are characterized, in general, by an electrical conductivity greater than 7 dS/m and a percentage of exchangeable sodium, which varies from 5 to 60% of the CEC.…”