Ornamented Resting Spores of a Green Alga, Chlorella sp., Collected from the Stone Standing Buddha Statue at Jungwon Miruksazi in Korea

doi:2005.20.4.295

Algae > Volume 20(4); 2005 > Article

Algae 2005;20(4): 295-298. doi: https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2005.20.4.295

Tatyana A. Klochkova¹, ² and Gwang Hoon Kim¹

¹Department of Biology, Kongju National University, Kongju 314-701, Korea
²Kamchatka Division of Pacific Institute of Geography of Russian Academy of Sciences, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, 683000 Russian Federation

ABSTRACT

The growth of subaerial microalgae on historic buildings or various cultural properties causes discoloration and physico-chemical deterioration of the surfaces. We collected a subaerial chlorophyte, Chlorella sp., from the stone Standing Buddha statue at Jungwon Miruksazi, which is a national treasure of Korea, and found dormant, thickwalled spores with regular pentagonal ornamentation along with the vegetative Chlorella cells. The morphology of Chlorella resting spores was compared to that of the other green algal resting cells. The ornamented spores and smooth-walled vegetative cells revived in 2 weeks in a liquid freshwater medium and started reproduction by autospores. To our knowledge, the ability of Chlorella to form ornamented dormant spores in drought condition was not previously recorded. The ornamentation of spores would supplement taxonomic characteristics of this genus.

Key words: biodeterioration, Chlorella, drought resistance, resting spore