Scientists from the University of Freiburg have discovered that the world’s oldest and fastest growing algae, 390 million years old, may not survive climate change. The research was published in the journal cell.
Moss Takakia (Takakia lepidozioidesAppearing 390 million years ago, it lives on the ice cliffs of the Tibetan Plateau, in Japan and the USA. In a ten-year project, a team of scientists climbed some of the world’s highest mountain peaks in the Himalayas to find the plant, decipher its DNA sequence for the first time, and study how climate change is affecting the unique organism.
Genome analysis has shown that Takakiya is one of the fastest growing algae species ever studied. This type of algae has existed for 100 million years, when the Himalayas rising beneath it drastically changed the habitat and forced the body to adapt rapidly. Takakiya was particularly successful at surviving severe blizzards as well as repairing DNA damaged by solar radiation.
Analysis of the algae environment using satellite weather data and observations of the plant has shown that the climate is constantly warming and glaciers on the mountain plateau are melting rapidly. This causes the algae to now be exposed to stronger UV radiation than ever before. Takakia probably isn’t developing fast enough to survive climate change. During the study period, the kelp population in Tibet decreased by about 1.6% per year. Most likely, in a hundred years this species may not remain on Earth.
“Our prediction is that areas suitable for Takakiya will shrink from 1,000 to 1,500 square kilometers globally by the end of the 21st century. We’re trying to propagate some plants in the lab and then transplant them to our experimental sites in Tibet. After five years of continuous observation, the scientists found that some transplanted plants were able to survive and thrive, which could be the beginning of an improvement or at least a delay in the extinction of Takakiya populations,” the scientists said.
Although the algae genome has changed a lot over time, its structure has remained almost unchanged.
“Usually you think that if there are many mutations in the genome, then at some point the shape of the organism will change. We hope these discoveries will inspire scientists to an entirely new field of research – evolution, which involves replacing the genome with the same structure of the organism,” the biologists concluded.
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