Humidity interaction of lichens under astrobiological aspects: the impact of UVC exposure on their water retention properties

We quantitatively studied the hydration and dehydration behaviour of the three astrobiological model lichens Xanthoria elegans, Buellia frigida and Circinaria gyrosa by thermoanalysis and gravimetric isotherm measurements under close-to-Martian environmental conditions in terms of low temperature and low pressure. Additionally, the impact of UVC exposure on the isolated symbionts of B. frigida and X. elegans was studied by thermoanalysis and mass spectrometry as well as by gravimetric isotherm measurements. The thermal analysis revealed whewellite as a component of C. gyrosa which was not found in B. frigida and X. elegans. Neither the water retention nor the thermal behaviour of symbionts changed when irradiated with UVC under dry conditions. On the other hand, UVC irradiation of the wet mycobiont of B. frigida had a distinct impact on the hydration/dehydration ability which was not observed for the mycobiont of X. elegans. Possibly the melanin of B. frigida's mycobiont, that is not present in X. elegans, or a specifically damaged acetamido group of the chitin of B. frigida may be the sources of additional UVC-induced sorption sites for water associated with the UVC exposure.

Desiccation and low temperature attenuate the effect of UVC254 nm in the photobiont of the astrobiologically relevant lichens Circinaria gyrosa and Buellia frigida

Several investigations on lichen photobionts (PBs) after exposure to simulated or real-space parameters consistently reported high viability and recovery of photosynthetic activity. These studies focused on PBs within lichen thalli, mostly exposed in a metabolically inactive state. In contrast, a recent study exposed isolated and metabolically active PBs to the non-terrestrial stressor UVC254 nm and found strong impairment of photosynthetic activity and photo-protective mechanisms (Meeßen et al. in 2014b). Under space and Mars conditions, UVC is accompanied by other stressors as extreme desiccation and low temperatures. The present study exposed the PBs of Buellia frigida and Circinaria gyrosa, to UVC in combination with desiccation and subzero temperatures to gain better insight into the combined stressors' effect and the PBs' inherent potential of resistance. These effects were examined by chlorophyll a fluorescence which is a good indicator of photosynthetic activity (Lüttge & Büdel in 2010) and widely used to test the viability of PBs after (simulated) space exposure. The present results reveal fast recovery of photosynthetic activity after desiccation and subzero temperatures. Moreover, they demonstrate that desiccation and cold confer an additional protective effect on the investigated PBs and attenuate the PBs' reaction to another stressor – even if it is a non-terrestrial one such as UVC. Besides other protective mechanisms (anhydrobiosis, morphological–anatomical traits and secondary lichen compounds), these findings may help to explain the high resistance of lichens observed in astrobiological studies.

Effects of UVC254 nm on the photosynthetic activity of photobionts from the astrobiologically relevant lichens Buellia frigida and Circinaria gyrosa

In the past decade, various astrobiological studies on different lichen species investigated the impairment of viability and photosynthetic activity by exposure to simulated or real space parameters (as vacuum, polychromatic ultraviolet (UV)-radiation and monochromatic UVC) and consistently found high post-exposure viability as well as low rates of photosynthetic impairment (de Vera et al. 2003, 2004a; 2004b; de la Torre et al. 2010; Onofri et al. 2012; Sánchez et al. 2012, 2014; Brandt et al. 2014). To achieve a better understanding of the basic mechanisms of resistance, the present study subdued isolated and metabolically active photobionts of two astrobiologically relevant lichens to UVC254 nm, examined its effect on photosynthetic activity by chlorophyll a fluorescence and characterized the UVC-induced damages by quantum yield reduction and measurements of non-photochemical quenching. The results indicate a strong impairment of photosynthetic activity, photoprotective mechanisms and overall photobiont vitality when being irradiated in the isolated and metabolically active state. In conclusion, the present study stresses the higher susceptibility of photobionts towards extreme environmental conditions as UVC-exposure, a stressor that does not occur on the Earth. By comparison with previous studies, the present results highlight the importance of protective mechanisms in lichens, such as morphological–anatomical traits (Meeßen et al. 2013), secondary lichen compounds (Meeßen et al. 2014) and the symbiont's pivotal ability to pass into anhydrobiosis when desiccating.

Lichens of the Oasis Molodyozhnyi and adjacent areas (Enderby Land, Antarctic)

Lichen flora and vegetation in the vicinity of the Russian base «Molodyozhnaya» (Enderby Land, Antarctica) were investigated in 2010–2011 in details for the first time. About 500 specimens were collected in 100 localities in all available ecotopes. The lichen flora is the richest in the region and numbers 39 species (21 genera, 11 families). The studied vegetation is very poor and sparse, but typical for coastal oases of the Antarctic continent. The poorness is caused by the extremely harsh climate conditions, insufficient availability of liquid water, ice-free land, and high insolation levels. The dominant and most common lichens are Rinodina olivaceobrunnea, Amandinea punctata, Candelariella flava, Physcia caesia, Caloplaca tominii, Lecanora expectans, Caloplaca ammiospila, Lecidea cancriformis, Pseudephebe minuscula, Lecidella siplei, Umbilicaria decussata, Buellia frigida, Lecanora fuscobrunnea, Usnea sphacelata, Lepraria and Buellia spp.

Variation in the ribosomal ITS-sequence of the lichens Buellia Frigida and Xanthoria Elegans from the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica

Thalli of the lichens Buellia frigida and Xanthoria elegans were collected from five different locations each 5-15 km apart in the Vestfold Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, eastern Antarctica. A further collection was made from Mawson Station, Mac Robertson Land, eastern Antarctica, 660 km away. DNA was extracted from whole thalli and the ribosomal ITS region amplified by PCR using fungal specific primers. Resulting products were sequenced to gain an indication of whether or not variation was present within populations of lichen-forming fungi from continental Antarctica, and therefore of the availability of genetic resources to react to pressures such as climate change. Three genotypes of B. frigida and two of X. elegans were detected in the Vestfold Hill collections. However, these differed by only one nucleotide position suggesting the presence of relatively little genetic variation, if the ITS region is indicative of the overall genome. Buellia frigida collected from Mawson Station had an identical ITS region sequence to the most common Vestfold Hills genotype, indicating that this species may have a low level of genetic variation across much of eastern Antarctica. In contrast, X. elegans collected from Mawson showed considerable genetic variation from the Vestfolds thalli, differing at 14·2% of nucleotide positions and had an identical ITS region sequence to an isolate from maritime Antarctica 4960 km away. Samples from the Vestfold Hills formed a distinct cluster in a phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences from a worldwide collection of X. elegans isolates.