Unravelling the secret of the resistance of desert strains of Chroococcidiopsis to desiccation and radiation

• Main Authors: Billi, Daniela, Fagliarone, Verseux, Cyprien, Mosca, Claudia, Baqué, Mickael, Wilmotte, Annick
• Other Authors: CIP - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines - ULiège
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: SCAR 2017
• Subjects: Chroococcidiopsis; radiations; resistance; deserts; dessication; oxidative damage; extremophiles; Life sciences; Environmental sciences & ecology; Microbiology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Microbiologie; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/213020; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/213020/1/S11posterWilmotteChroococcidiopsisextremophily.doc

Chroococcidiopsis is a unicellular cyanobacterial genus that is growing in extreme dry conditions, either in low or high temperatures. At the lower end of the spectrum, they live as cryptoendoliths in rocks of the Mc Murdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica where they were discovered by Imre Friedmann, while at the higher end, they grow as hypoliths/endoliths in hot deserts, e.g. Negev, Gobi, Atacama. The capacity of desert strains of Chroococcidiopsis to stabilize their sub-cellular organization is so efficient that, when dried, they can cope with simulated space and Martian conditionsas well as with high doses of ionizing and UV radiations . Chroococcidiopsis