Bipolar dispersal of red-snow algae.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30082897.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-05521-w and PMC identifier 6079020.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Red-snow algae are red-pigmented unicellular algae that appear seasonally on the surface of thawing snow worldwide. Here, we analyse the distribution patterns of snow algae sampled from glaciers and snow patches in the Arctic and Antarctica based on nuclear ITS2 sequences, which evolve rapidly. The number of phylotypes is limited in both polar regions, and most are specific to either the Arctic or Antarctica. However, the bipolar phylotypes account for the largest share (37.3%) of all sequences, suggesting that red-algal blooms in polar regions may comprise mainly cosmopolitan phylotypes but also include endemic organisms, which are distributed either in the Arctic or Antarctica.
Medical subject headings
- DNA, Intergenic
- Rhodophyta
- Seasons