ADVANCES IN POLAR SCIENCE ›› 2013, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (1): 53-60.DOI: 10.3724/SP.J.1084.2013.00053

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PRELIMINARY STUDY ON PREPONDERANT PHOTOBIONTS FROM ANTARCTICA AND ARCTIC

Li Hui1,2,Cao Shunan1,2,Deng Hong1,Zhou Qiming1,Wei Jiangchun1   

  1.  
    1State Key Laboratory of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
    2 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2012-08-29 Revised:2012-09-19 Online:2013-03-30 Published:2013-03-30

Abstract: Thirty-two photobiont ITS ribosomal DNA sequences which were applied from the lichen samples collected from the King George Island, Antarctica and Ny-Alesund, Arctic were determinded, and all the photobionts were identified as Trebouxia jamesii. A phylogenetic analysis was conducted based on the ITS rDNA sequences of photobionts in this study and those retrieved from Genbank, and the result indicated that genotypes of photobionts do not match the species of lichens or their sampling sites. As a dominant photobiont species distributing on a global scale, T. jamesii harbors numerous genotypes and can be found in various lichen species. Among these genotypes, genotype A were found in the Antarctica, Europe, North America and Arcitc, whereas the other genotypes exhibited regional specificity. The present study supplies the evidence in algal switching among lichens, and suggests that the fragments of lichen thallus could be the carrier for photobionts’ long distance spreading.

Key words: Antarctica, Arctic, photobiont, Trebouxia, genotype