Viability of dried vegetative cells or filaments, survivability and/or reproduction under water and light stress, and following heat and UV exposure in some blue-green and green algae.

Abstract

Vegetative cells in dried, mucilagenous mass of Gloeocapsa aeruginosa and Aphanothece nidulans, reticulum of Hydrodictyon reticulatum, mucilagenous mass of Chroococcus minor, and filaments of Oedogonium sp. and Scytonema hofmanni died within 1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1, 3 and 6 h, respectively, while dried vegetative filaments of Phormidium foveolarum retained under similar storage conditions viability for 4 d. P. foveolarum tolerated 1 mol/L NaCl. The resistance to desiccation in P. foveolarum exhibited similar dependence as that to heat or UV light. The water stress imposed on growing algae either on high-agar solid media or in NaCl-containing liquid media reduced at various levels or altogether inhibited the survival of vegetative parts in all, the cell division in C. minor, G. aeruginosa and A. nidulans, formation of heterocyst and false branch in S. hofmanni, oogonium in Oedogonium sp., and daughter net in H. reticulatum. Heat or UV shock of any level also produced similar effects as that by water stress. P. foveolarum tolerated low light level of 10 and 2 mumol m-2 s-1 and no light longer than the rest of other algae studied. Tolerance of microalgal forms to water, heat or UV stress depends primarily upon cell-wall characteristics or cell-sap osmotic properties rather than their habitats, morphology and prokaryotic or eukaryotic nature.