title: Fine-Scale Spatial Patterns of Mature and Immature Filaments and Bioorganic Compounds of the Rhodophyte Bangia atropurpurea in the Supra- and Eulittoral Zones of a Large Lake(1).
abstract: Bangia atropurpurea (Mertens ex Roth) C. Agardh is a freshwater red alga species that is distributed worldwide. B. atropurpurea is highly adaptable due to its stress-tolerance, which ensures survival under desiccation periods and under radiation extremes typical of the supra- and upper eulittoral zones. Whereas a number of previous investigations addressed some of the physiological and biochemical traits involved in stress-tolerance, we studied the spatial arrangement of the mature (multiseriate) and immature (uniseriate) filaments and of selected bioorganic compounds along a gradient defined by distance from the waterline. Substantial physiological and biochemical differences were previously observed among phenological stages in the marine environment. In this study, we showed a nonrandom spatial structure of both phenological stages and photosynthetic pigments and photoprotective compounds, R-phycocyanin and R-phycoerythrin along the supralittoral-eulittoral gradient. This observed pattern strongly suggests a complex interplay between physio-morphological regulation and spatial arrangement of mature and immature filaments in conferring the typical stress tolerance of B. atropurpurea.
authors.affiliation: Museo delle Scienze, Limnology and Phycology Section, Via Calepina 14, I-38122 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spitale
authors.affiliation: Museo delle Scienze, Limnology and Phycology Section, Via Calepina 14, I-38122 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Scalfi
authors.affiliation: Museo delle Scienze, Limnology and Phycology Section, Via Calepina 14, I-38122 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Angeli
authors.affiliation: Museo delle Scienze, Limnology and Phycology Section, Via Calepina 14, I-38122 Trento, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cantonati
keywords: Bangia atropurpurea; Lake Garda; adaptations; archeospores; freshwater; immature and mature filaments; rhodophytes; stress tolerance; uniseriate and multiseriate filaments