Ecophysiology of the brine dinoflagellate, Polarella glacialis, and Antarctic fast ice brine communities ...

Extremes in salinity and temperature and high levels of incident ultraviolet radiation (UVR) characterise the brine pockets and channels of upper Antarctic fast ice. Data on the composition and distribution of the microbial community inhabiting this environment is limited. Furthermore, how this comm...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Thomson, PG
Format: Thesis
Language:unknown
Published: University Of Tasmania 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.25959/23241347.v1
https://figshare.utas.edu.au/articles/thesis/Ecophysiology_of_the_brine_dinoflagellate_Polarella_glacialis_and_Antarctic_fast_ice_brine_communities/23241347/1
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Summary:Extremes in salinity and temperature and high levels of incident ultraviolet radiation (UVR) characterise the brine pockets and channels of upper Antarctic fast ice. Data on the composition and distribution of the microbial community inhabiting this environment is limited. Furthermore, how this community tolerates the immoderate physical and chemical parameters of the upper ice brine is poorly understood. The microbial community in the Davis upper fast ice consists of cryo- and halotolerant autotrophic flagellates, a few diatoms, one ciliate species and several heterotrophic species. Small autotrophic dinoflagellates and chrysophytes dominate a community containing greater flagellate diversity than previously reported. A cryptomonad and two species of Pyramimonas are reported for the first time. The abundant dinoflagellate of Davis fast ice, identified using molecular taxonomy, is Polarella glacialis Montresor et al. Observations of P. glacialis in this study from fast and pack ice brine samples along the ...