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Cyanobacteria in Cold Ecosystems

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Psychrophiles: from Biodiversity to Biotechnology

Perennially cold environments in which temperatures remain below 5°C are common throughout the biosphere (Margesin and Häggblom 2007). In these habitats, the persistent cold temperatures are often accompanied by freeze—thaw cycles, extreme fluctuations in irradiance (including ultraviolet radiation), and large variations in nutrient supply and salinity. As a result of these constraints, polar and alpine environments contain a reduced biodiversity, with prokaryotes contributing a major component of the total ecosystem biomass as well as species richness. Cyanobacteria are of particular interest because they often represent the predominant phototrophs in such ecosystems. Current research shows that a diverse range of cyanobacteria can be found in polar and alpine habitats, and that they show a remarkable ability to tolerate the abiotic stresses that prevail in these cold environments. Their presence was already observed during the early explorations of the polar regions at the end of the nineteenth century (Vincent 2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Protein Engineering, Institute of Chemistry B6, University of Liège, B-4000 Liège, Belgium

    Frédéric Zakhia, Arnaud Taton & Annick Wilmotte

  2. Centre d'Études Nordiques & Département de Biologie, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec G1K 7P4, Canada

    Anne-Dorothee Jungblut & Warwick F. Vincent

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  1. Frédéric Zakhia
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  2. Anne-Dorothee Jungblut
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  1. Institute of Microbiology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Rosa Margesin  & Franz Schinner  & 

  2. Laboratory of Biochemistry, University of Liège, Institute of Chemistry B6, 4000, Liège, Belgium

    Jean-Claude Marx  & Charles Gerday  & 

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Zakhia, F., Jungblut, AD., Taton, A., Vincent, W.F., Wilmotte, A. (2008). Cyanobacteria in Cold Ecosystems. In: Margesin, R., Schinner, F., Marx, JC., Gerday, C. (eds) Psychrophiles: from Biodiversity to Biotechnology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74335-4_8

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