Identification of far-red light acclimation in an endolithic strain and associated genomic features: Implications for oxygenic photosynthesis on exoplanets.

Deserts represent extreme habitats where photosynthetic life is restricted to the lithic niche. The ability of rock-inhabiting cyanobacteria to modify their photosynthetic apparatus and harvest far-red light (near-infrared) was investigated in 10 strains of the genus , previously isolated from diverse endolithic and hypolithic desert communities. The analysis of their growth capacity, photosynthetic pigments, and -gene presence revealed that only sp.

Photobiont Diversity in Lichen Symbioses From Extreme Environments.

Fungal-algal relationships-both across evolutionary and ecological scales-are finely modulated by the presence of the symbionts in the environments and by the degree of selectivity and specificity that either symbiont develop reciprocally. In lichens, the green algal genus Puymaly is one of the most frequently recovered chlorobionts. species-level lineages have been recognized on the basis of their morphological and phylogenetic diversity, while their ecological preferences and distribution are still only partially unknown.

gen. nov. sp. nov. from Antarctic Endolithic Communities Untangles the Evolution of Rock-Inhabiting and Lichenized Fungi in .

Microbial endolithic communities are the main and most widespread life forms in the coldest and hyper-arid desert of the McMurdo Dry Valleys and other ice-free areas across Victoria Land, Antarctica. There, the lichen-dominated communities are complex and self-supporting assemblages of phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms, including bacteria, chlorophytes, and both free-living and lichen-forming fungi living at the edge of their physiological adaptability. In particular, among the free-living fungi, microcolonial, melanized, and anamorphic species are highly recurrent, while a few species were sometimes found to be associated with algae.