Chloromonas nivalis subsp. tatrae, subsp. nov. (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyta): re-examination of a snow alga from the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia)

Abstract

Melting snow fields populated by aplanozygotes of the genus <i>Chloromonas</i> (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyta) are found in polar and alpine habitats. In the High Tatra Mountains (Slovakia), cells causing blooms of brownish-red snow designated as <i>Scotiella tatrae</i> kol turned out to be genetically (18S, ITS1 and ITS2 rDNA, <i>rbc</i>L) very closely related to <i>Chloromonas nivalis</i> (Chodat) Hoham et Mullet from the Austrian Alps. Therefore, <i>Sc. tatrae</i> is transferred into the latter taxon and reduced to a subspecies as <i>Cr. nivalis</i> subsp. <i>tatrae.</i> Both exhibit a similar photosynthetic performance, thrive in similar habitats at open sites above timberline, but differ in astaxanthin accumulation and number of aplanozygote cell wall flanges. In a field sample of <i>Cr. nivalis</i> subsp. <i>tatrae</i>, polyunsaturated fatty acids formed nearly 50 % of total lipids, dominating in phospholipids and glycolipids. <i>Cr. nivalis</i> subsp. <i>tatrae</i> represents likely a variation of a common cryoflora species with distinct morphology.