plants Article Induction of Conjugation and Zygospore Cell Wall Characteristics in the Alpine Spirogyra mirabilis (Zygnematophyceae, Charophyta): Advantage under Climate Change Scenarios? Charlotte Permann 1 , Klaus Herburger 2 , Martin Felhofer 3 , Notburga Gierlinger 3 , Louise A. Lewis 4 and Andreas Holzinger 1,* 1 Department of Botany, Functional Plant Biology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria;
[email protected] 2 Section for Plant Glycobiology, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1871 Frederiksberg, Denmark;
[email protected] 3 Department of Nanobiotechnology, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), 1190 Vienna, Austria;
[email protected] (M.F.);
[email protected] (N.G.) 4 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Conneticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3043, USA;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Extreme environments, such as alpine habitats at high elevation, are increasingly exposed to man-made climate change. Zygnematophyceae thriving in these regions possess a special means Citation: Permann, C.; Herburger, K.; of sexual reproduction, termed conjugation, leading to the formation of resistant zygospores. A field Felhofer, M.; Gierlinger, N.; Lewis, sample of Spirogyra with numerous conjugating stages was isolated and characterized by molec- L.A.; Holzinger, A. Induction of ular phylogeny. We successfully induced sexual reproduction under laboratory conditions by a Conjugation and Zygospore Cell Wall transfer to artificial pond water and increasing the light intensity to 184 µmol photons m−2 s−1. Characteristics in the Alpine Spirogyra This, however was only possible in early spring, suggesting that the isolated cultures had an inter- mirabilis (Zygnematophyceae, nal rhythm.