Cargando…

Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps

Mountain environments are marked by an altitudinal zonation of habitat types. They are home to a multitude of terrestrial green algae, who have to cope with abiotic conditions specific to high elevation, e.g., high UV irradiance, alternating desiccation, rain and snow precipitations, extreme diurnal...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Stewart, Adeline, Rioux, Delphine, Boyer, Fréderic, Gielly, Ludovic, Pompanon, François, Saillard, Amélie, Thuiller, Wilfried, Valay, Jean-Gabriel, Maréchal, Eric, Coissac, Eric
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8215661/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34163510
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.679428
_version_ 1783710284877135872
author Stewart, Adeline
Rioux, Delphine
Boyer, Fréderic
Gielly, Ludovic
Pompanon, François
Saillard, Amélie
Thuiller, Wilfried
Valay, Jean-Gabriel
Maréchal, Eric
Coissac, Eric
author_facet Stewart, Adeline
Rioux, Delphine
Boyer, Fréderic
Gielly, Ludovic
Pompanon, François
Saillard, Amélie
Thuiller, Wilfried
Valay, Jean-Gabriel
Maréchal, Eric
Coissac, Eric
author_sort Stewart, Adeline
collection PubMed
description Mountain environments are marked by an altitudinal zonation of habitat types. They are home to a multitude of terrestrial green algae, who have to cope with abiotic conditions specific to high elevation, e.g., high UV irradiance, alternating desiccation, rain and snow precipitations, extreme diurnal variations in temperature and chronic scarceness of nutrients. Even though photosynthetic green algae are primary producers colonizing open areas and potential markers of climate change, their overall biodiversity in the Alps has been poorly studied so far, in particular in soil, where algae have been shown to be key components of microbial communities. Here, we investigated whether the spatial distribution of green algae followed the altitudinal zonation of the Alps, based on the assumption that algae settle in their preferred habitats under the pressure of parameters correlated with elevation. We did so by focusing on selected representative elevational gradients at distant locations in the French Alps, where soil samples were collected at different depths. Soil was considered as either a potential natural habitat or temporary reservoir of algae. We showed that algal DNA represented a relatively low proportion of the overall eukaryotic diversity as measured by a universal Eukaryote marker. We designed two novel green algae metabarcoding markers to amplify the Chlorophyta phylum and its Chlorophyceae class, respectively. Using our newly developed markers, we showed that elevation was a strong correlate of species and genus level distribution. Altitudinal zonation was thus determined for about fifty species, with proposed accessions in reference databases. In particular, Planophila laetevirens and Bracteococcus ruber related species as well as the snow alga Sanguina genus were only found in soil starting at 2,000 m above sea level. Analysis of environmental and bioclimatic factors highlighted the importance of pH and nitrogen/carbon ratios in the vertical distribution in soil. Capacity to grow heterotrophically may determine the Trebouxiophyceae over Chlorophyceae ratio. The intensity of freezing events (freezing degree days), proved also determinant in Chlorophyceae distribution. Guidelines are discussed for future, more robust and precise analyses of environmental algal DNA in mountain ecosystems and address green algae species distribution and dynamics in response to environmental changes.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-8215661
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-82156612021-06-22 Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps Stewart, Adeline Rioux, Delphine Boyer, Fréderic Gielly, Ludovic Pompanon, François Saillard, Amélie Thuiller, Wilfried Valay, Jean-Gabriel Maréchal, Eric Coissac, Eric Front Plant Sci Plant Science Mountain environments are marked by an altitudinal zonation of habitat types. They are home to a multitude of terrestrial green algae, who have to cope with abiotic conditions specific to high elevation, e.g., high UV irradiance, alternating desiccation, rain and snow precipitations, extreme diurnal variations in temperature and chronic scarceness of nutrients. Even though photosynthetic green algae are primary producers colonizing open areas and potential markers of climate change, their overall biodiversity in the Alps has been poorly studied so far, in particular in soil, where algae have been shown to be key components of microbial communities. Here, we investigated whether the spatial distribution of green algae followed the altitudinal zonation of the Alps, based on the assumption that algae settle in their preferred habitats under the pressure of parameters correlated with elevation. We did so by focusing on selected representative elevational gradients at distant locations in the French Alps, where soil samples were collected at different depths. Soil was considered as either a potential natural habitat or temporary reservoir of algae. We showed that algal DNA represented a relatively low proportion of the overall eukaryotic diversity as measured by a universal Eukaryote marker. We designed two novel green algae metabarcoding markers to amplify the Chlorophyta phylum and its Chlorophyceae class, respectively. Using our newly developed markers, we showed that elevation was a strong correlate of species and genus level distribution. Altitudinal zonation was thus determined for about fifty species, with proposed accessions in reference databases. In particular, Planophila laetevirens and Bracteococcus ruber related species as well as the snow alga Sanguina genus were only found in soil starting at 2,000 m above sea level. Analysis of environmental and bioclimatic factors highlighted the importance of pH and nitrogen/carbon ratios in the vertical distribution in soil. Capacity to grow heterotrophically may determine the Trebouxiophyceae over Chlorophyceae ratio. The intensity of freezing events (freezing degree days), proved also determinant in Chlorophyceae distribution. Guidelines are discussed for future, more robust and precise analyses of environmental algal DNA in mountain ecosystems and address green algae species distribution and dynamics in response to environmental changes. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-06-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8215661/ /pubmed/34163510 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.679428 Text en Copyright © 2021 Stewart, Rioux, Boyer, Gielly, Pompanon, Saillard, Thuiller, Valay, Maréchal and Coissac. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Plant Science
Stewart, Adeline
Rioux, Delphine
Boyer, Fréderic
Gielly, Ludovic
Pompanon, François
Saillard, Amélie
Thuiller, Wilfried
Valay, Jean-Gabriel
Maréchal, Eric
Coissac, Eric
Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title_full Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title_fullStr Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title_full_unstemmed Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title_short Altitudinal Zonation of Green Algae Biodiversity in the French Alps
title_sort altitudinal zonation of green algae biodiversity in the french alps
topic Plant Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8215661/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34163510
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.679428
work_keys_str_mv AT stewartadeline altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT riouxdelphine altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT boyerfrederic altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT giellyludovic altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT pompanonfrancois altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT saillardamelie altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT thuillerwilfried altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT valayjeangabriel altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT marechaleric altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps
AT coissaceric altitudinalzonationofgreenalgaebiodiversityinthefrenchalps