Resilience and self-regulation processes of microalgae under UV radiation stress

Publication date: Available online 9 November 2019Source: Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry ReviewsAuthor(s): Rajesh P. Rastogi, Datta Madamwar, Hitoshi Nakamoto, Aran IncharoensakdiAbstractThe apparent increase in solar ultraviolet (UV) radiations on the Earth’s surface, due to continuous depletion or diminishing of the stratospheric ozone shield has triggered serious ecological as well as biological consequences on several life-forms, including microalgae. UV radiation tends to damage the key cellular machinery, cells may adapt by developing several defense mechanisms as a response to such damage; otherwise, the cellular destiny is cell-death. Since microalgae are one of the primary biotic components, any drastic effects caused by UV radiation may imbalance the entire ecosystems. However, survival of microalgae under billions of years of fluctuating environmental changes has pressurized them to develop a number of tolerance mechanisms against environmental UV stress. The high resilience of the microalgal community in the face of UV stress is attributed to the activation of several photo/dark repair mechanisms, antioxidant systems, and biosynthesis of UV-photoprotectants such as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs), scytonemin (Scy), carotenoids and polyamines. The focus of this review underlies an overview of various resilience mechanisms adopted by microalgae, by which cells are able to survive under UV stressed environment. Moreover, the curren...
Source: Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews - Category: Chemistry Source Type: research