Red Snow From Mt. Seymour, British Columbia

Stein, Janet R.; Brooke, R. C.

doi:10.1139/b64-114

Cited by 18 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…The organism originally described as Sphaerellopsis rubra from North America (Stein & Brooke 1964) has been transferred by Hoham (1974b) to Chlainomonas rubra, a genus of quadriflagellate unicells. Unfortunately, somebiflagellate algae can resemble this species when flagella are missing (as in most field samples), and information indicating the reliability of the New Zealand identification (Hardy 1966), such as the presence of four flagella grooves, is not available.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

Novis¹

2002

New Zealand Journal of Botany

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Eight out of nine species of snow algae occurring on Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park, are new records for New Zealand. Chlainomonas kolii, reported previously in snow beneath tree canopies in the USA, is responsible for blooms which colour the snow red. Chloromonas rubroleosa, which is found in red snow dominated by C. kolii, also occurs in continental Antarctica. Three other species of Chloromonas, including the relatively common bipolar alga previously known as Scotiella antarctica, occur in other snowfields on the mountain. The widely reported Raphidonema nivale was identified in cultures from many snow samples. Two species of chrysophyceans, Chromulina cf. elegans and Chrysophyceae sp. 2 (a cyst, of which the life cycle is not understood) occur in Mt Philistine snow. The few previous investigations of New Zealand snow algae have suffered from lack of culturing and observation of living material. Results presented here show that many more sites require detailed study using these techniques to improve our understanding of the biogeography of New Zealand snow algae, and for comparison with floras elsewhere to be meaningful.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

Novis¹

2002

New Zealand Journal of Botany

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“…C. nivalis is found worldwide, generally blooming in snow above 2500 m where snowfields persist into the summer (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13). This environment, with cold temperatures and high irradiance, is especially harsh for a photosynthetic organism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultraviolet Radiation and the Snow Alga Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille¶

Gorton¹,

Vogelmann²

2003

Photochem Photobiol

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Aplanospores of Chlamydomonas nivalis are frequently found in high-altitude, persistent snowfields where they are photosynthetically active despite cold temperatures and high levels of visible and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The goals of this work were to characterize the UV environment of the cells in the snow and to investigate the existence and localization of screening compounds that might prevent UV damage. UV irradiance decreased precipitously in snow, with UV radiation of wavelengths 280-315 nm and UV radiation of wavelengths 315-400 nm dropping to 50% of incident levels in the top 1 and 2 cm, respectively. Isolated cell walls exhibited UV absorbance, possibly by sporopollenin, but this absorbance was weak in images of broken or plasmolyzed cells observed through a UV microscope. The cells also contained UV-absorbing cytoplasmic compounds, with the extrachloroplastic carotenoid astaxanthin providing most of the screening. Additional screening compound(s) soluble in aqueous methanol with an absorption maximum at 335 nm played a minor role. Thus, cells are protected against potentially high levels of UV radiation by the snow itself when they live several centimeters beneath the surface, and they rely on cellular screening compounds, chiefly astaxanthin, when located near the surface where UV fluxes are high.

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“…The two snow species have both been reported from the Pacific Northwest of North America and the mountains of New Zealand. C. rubra and C. kolii form blooms of pink‐red snow beneath or adjacent to coniferous canopies in their North American habitat (Stein and Brooke 1964, Hardy and Curl 1968, Hoham 1974a,b). However, their ecology differs somewhat in New Zealand, where C. kolii is most commonly found in melting snow over alpine tarns in the South Island (Novis 2002a,b) and C. rubra is known from snowpacks on the volcanic Mt.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

TWO SNOW SPECIES OF THE QUADRIFLAGELLATE GREEN ALGACHLAINOMONAS(CHLOROPHYTA, VOLVOCALES): ULTRASTRUCTURE AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION WITHIN THE CHLOROMONAS CLADE¹

Novis

Hoham

Beer

et al. 2008

Journal of Phycology

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The quadriflagellate snow alga Chlainomonas Christen, distributed in New Zealand and North America, has several unusual structural attributes. A process assumed to be cytokinesis involves extrusion of protoplasm from the parent through a narrow canal, C. kolii (J. T. Hardy et Curl) Hoham produces a net-like outer envelope rather than a cell wall, and the flagellar basal apparatus of Chlainomonas consists of two semi-independent pairs of basal bodies. Structural connections between basal body pairs appear minimal, but a connecting system different from that observed in other genera exists within each pair. Phylogenetic analysis using rbcL sequences places Chlainomonas in the Chloromonas clade, other known members of which are all biflagellate. Chlainomonas is split into two robust lineages, with New Zealand collections sharing an origin with northern North American collections. Although the quadriflagellate condition is regarded as ancestral in the Chlorophyceae, we speculate-based on ultrastructural and molecular data presented here-that Chlainomonas represents a derived form that has arisen from fusion of two ancestral biflagellate cells. Other explanations (for example, that Chlainomonas represents a diploid form of a biflagellate species) are remotely possible but are presently at odds with extensive observations of field material. Improvements in techniques for experimental manipulation of these sensitive cryophiles will be required to fully characterize their structure and progress our understanding of their biology.

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Red Snow From Mt. Seymour, British Columbia

Cited by 18 publications

References 3 publications

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

Ultraviolet Radiation and the Snow Alga Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille¶

TWO SNOW SPECIES OF THE QUADRIFLAGELLATE GREEN ALGACHLAINOMONAS(CHLOROPHYTA, VOLVOCALES): ULTRASTRUCTURE AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION WITHIN THE CHLOROMONAS CLADE¹

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Red Snow From Mt. Seymour, British Columbia

Cited by 18 publications

References 3 publications

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

New records of snow algae for New Zealand, from Mt Philistine, Arthur's Pass National Park

Ultraviolet Radiation and the Snow Alga Chlamydomonas nivalis (Bauer) Wille¶

TWO SNOW SPECIES OF THE QUADRIFLAGELLATE GREEN ALGACHLAINOMONAS(CHLOROPHYTA, VOLVOCALES): ULTRASTRUCTURE AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION WITHIN THE CHLOROMONAS CLADE1

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TWO SNOW SPECIES OF THE QUADRIFLAGELLATE GREEN ALGACHLAINOMONAS(CHLOROPHYTA, VOLVOCALES): ULTRASTRUCTURE AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION WITHIN THE CHLOROMONAS CLADE¹