The new record of Philodina gregaria from Sôya Coast and life history of the species

The Tenth Symposium on Polar Science/Ordinary sessions : [OB] Polar Biology, Wed. 4 Dec. / Entrance Hall (1st floor) , National Institute of Polar Researc

Ecological studies of aquatic moss pillars in Antarctic lakes 3. Light response and chilling and heat sensitivity of photosynthesis

The light-photosynthesis relation was measured using a PAM chlorophyll fluorometric method in a moss, Leptobryum sp., which is the primary component of aquatic moss pillars, in cultured Leptobryum sp. on an agar plate, and in both aquatic and terrestrial forms of Bryum pseudotriquetrum. The morphology of the plate-cultured Leptobryum sp. was clearly different from the sample growing on an aquatic moss pillar; the leaves and shoots were considerably thickened and enlarged in the former. In spite of the great difference of morphology, photosynthetic light responses such as light-PS II yield, -non-photochemical quenching and the relative rate of electron transport of both samples were nearly the same. On the other hand, the responses of B. pseudotriquetrum collected from a moss pillar and terrestrial habitat differed greatly. Light-PS II yield and light-ETR relationships of the Leptobryum sp. showed rather shade-plant type response, low effective PS II yield at any light intensity and low maximum ETR with low light saturation point, while B. pseudotriquetrum from a terrestrial habitat showed rather \u27sun-plant\u27 type responses. Aquatic B. pseudotriquetrum showed the lowest values of effective PS II yield and ETR at almost all light intensities among the present samples. Chilling/heating stress was experimentally added to the aquatic Leptobryum sp., and it was found that both maximum and effective yield of PS II showed quite narrow and cryophilic relationships with treatment temperatures. These photosynthetic features observed in the Leptobryum sp., shade-plant type light response and very naive sensitivity to the changes of temperature, suggest that the species can perform photosynthetic growth within the aquatic habitat; however, it cannot survive or prevail in the terrestrial habitat in severe East Antarctica

Ecological studies of aquatic moss pillars in Antarctic lakes 2. Temperature and light environment at the moss habitat

To understand the environmental conditions, which control the growth of moss pillars in lake bottoms, water temperature and light in the moss pillar habitat in lake Kuwai Ike in Skarvsnes, Soya Coast, East Antarctica, were continuously measured for about one year, February 1999 to Jannuary 2000. Limnological characteristics of surface water of the lake were investigated in summer 2000, and compared with those in four neighboring lakes. Low contents of ions, neutral pH and dissolved oxygen in saturation level in the surface water in Kuwai-Ike lake were comparable to the values of the other oligotrophic freshwater lakes in Soya Coast and Schirmacher Oasis, located in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. The temperature at the lake bottom showed uni-modal seasonal change, in the range 0-12°C. Several sudden temperature drops of > 2°C within a few hours were recorded in the ice-free autumn season; they may have been correlated with the wind-induced vertical mixing events which occurred before complete ice cover development on the lake surface. Light reaching the lake bottom showed clear diel and seasonal fluctuations, and the flux density was strongly affected by the attenuations of water, ice and snow: the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) measured at the lake bottom was s^ was recorded for nearly 2 months in winter; however, daily fluxes over 1 mol m^ day^ were recorded for the other ca. 8 months, with >100μmol m^ s^ of instantaneous peak fluxes around noon

Xanthophyll-cycle of ice algae on the sea ice bottom in Saroma Ko lagoon, Hokkaido, Japan

Using the ice algal community prevailing on the sea ice bottom in Saroma Ko lagoon, Hokkaido, Japan, the response of a photosynthetic system to exposure to light was investigated, focusing on xanthophylls-cycle features, diel changes of the pool size of xanthophylls-cycle pigments and the effective quantum yield of PS II in early February, 1998. By pigment analysis, β-carotene, chlorophylls a and c, diadinoxanthin, diatoxanthin and fucoxanthin were detected as major pigments, which suggests that diatoms dominated as ice algae during this study. When such ice algae were exposed to irradiance nearly 4 times higher than the daily maximum level at the ice bottom, the interconversion between diadinoxanthin and diatoxanthin continued for ca. 20 min immediately after the onset of irradiation in spite of the sub-zero Celsius ambient temperature. Although the pool size of this xanthophylls-cycle (relative amount of diadinoxanthin plus diatoxanthin per chlorophyll a) was not so large compared to that of mesophilic diatoms, it showed a circadian change increasing during the daytime and decreasing at night. This change correlated well with the effective quantum yield of PS II. These results suggest that ice algae at the sea ice bottom possess a relatively effective xanthophylls-cycle to regulate light energy usage. However, the xanthophylls-cycle in ice algae may be poor compared to that of algae living in intermediate irradiance, which can be interpreted from the point of view of bioenergetic aspects of shade adapted ice algae

Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol with Antarctic yeast Mrakia blollopis

第3回極域科学シンポジウム/第34回極域生物シンポジウム 11月27日（火） 国立極地研究所 ３階ラウン

Floristic examination of diatom assemblage in the dim light-environment of water column and sea ice, Saroma Ko lagoon, Hokkaido, Japan

The species composition and abundance of diatoms were examined concurrently in both the sea ice and the water column of ice-covered Saroma Ko lagoon in early February 1996. Cell counts indicated that the ice algal assemblage collected from the bottom 10cm of the sea ice was dominated by Detonula confervacea, Thalassiosira spp. and Fragilariopsis cylindrus in order of total cell volume. These three groups accounted for 66% of the total diatom abundance in the sea ice. The centric and pennate diatoms accounted for 52.3% and 47.7% of the abundance of the ice algal assemblage, respectively. The phytoplankton assemblage collected from the water column at the depth of 4m was dominated by Thalassiosira spp., T. nordenskioeldii and D. confervacea. These three groups accounted for 92% of the total phytoplankton diatom abundance. The centric diatoms accounted for as much as 98.8% of the abundance of the phytoplankton assemblage whereas the pennate diatoms accounted for only 1.2%. Two of the three dominant phytoplankton groups were observed in both the ice algal and phytoplankton assemblages, but T. nordenskioeldii was present only in the latter. The groups observed only in the phytoplankton assemblage accounted for 20% of the total phytoplankton abundance. It was assumed that the phytoplankton assemblage included some species released from the sea ice and others living independently in the water column where light was severely limited. In response to the improvement of the light-environment, those cells surviving in the water column during winter can resume growth soon after the disappearance of the sea ice cover

Limnology and ecology of lakes along the Sôya Coast, East Antarctica

The Sôya Coast in East Antarctica has several ice-free areas where many small (<1 km2) and shallow (<50 m depth) glacial lakes display various limnological features. Geological, biological, and ecological studies conducted by the Japanese Antarctic Research Expeditions since 1957 are reviewed herein. Most of the lakes along the coast are oligotrophic; however, water quality is highly variable depending on differences in lake morphology and history. Geophysical and paleolimnological studies suggest that most of the lakes appeared after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and have since maintained a lacustrine condition. The ubiquitous occurrence of benthic microbial assemblages with low phytoplankton biomasses is a common feature of other Antarctic lakes. However, diverse benthic assemblages such as moss pillars and large pinnacle microbial structures are found in the lake basins. Frequent and continuous limnological studies have revealed three typical water circulation patterns, underwater light climate features (too much light, which includes UV radiation during the ice free season), and the structure of benthic assemblages based on their photosynthetic physiology. The phenomenon of mass floatation of benthic assemblages was observed in a lake during the ice-covered season; this was explained by seasonal environmental conditions. Thus, a hypothesis was formulated based on ecological matter cycling, eutrophication, and lake succession processes

Reproductive phenology of subalpine moss, Polytrichum ohioense Ren. et Card.

The reproductive phenology of Polytrichum ohioense was investigated in a sub-alpine forest at the foot of Mt. Tyausu, in the Yatsugatake Mountains, Central Honshu, Japan. Shoots were collected every 2 weeks from May to October from the study site. Developmental stages of gametangia and sporophytes formed in the current and previous year were registered. The temperature above the turf occasionally dropped below 0℃ before June, while the temperature in the turf did not drop below 0℃. Juvenile antheridia formed about one month earlier than archegonia. Mature antheridia and archegonia are observed from late May to early August and from late June to mid-July, respectively. Fertilization seems to occur from late June to mid-July. Longer persistence of mature antheridia is supposed to contribute to higher efficiency of fertilization to supply its sperm for a relatively long period. And delayed formation of archegonia in the warm season may contribute to the adaptation to the temperature decrease at the beginning of the growing season. Sporophytes were found first at the end of June, then gradually grew and reached the ECI stage by October. The sporophytes seemed to spend the period of snow cover in the ECI stage, and started to grow again in the next growing season in May. Spore dispersal was observed from mid-July to mid-August. Sporophytes took 13 months to mature including a 6 month resting period. The phenological parameters observed in the present study provide a way to adapt to the the short growing season in the sub-alpine zone in Central Honshu, Japan