Short-chain n-alkanes in benthic mats and mosses from the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica

Subham Chatterjee, Supriyo Kumar Das*, Pravat Kumar Behera, Devanita Ghosh, Arindam Chakraborty, Priyank Pravin Patel, Minoru Ikehara

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

12 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Variation in leaf colour (green, red and grey) of mosses and lake benthic mats in Antarctica is often linked to water stress and ultraviolet light (UV-B) exposure. Changes in the abundance of organic compounds, such as pectin and phenols, are associated with mechanisms protecting against desiccation and UV radiation. However, the function of n-alkanes, especially against UV radiation, is rarely examined. Here, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analyses were performed to study the variation in n-alkanes in freshwater lake benthic mats and mosses collected from the Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica. Stable isotopes of organic carbon and nitrogen, environmental DNA characterisation and microscopy-based analyses are used to estimate the presence of cyanobacteria, algae and diatoms in moss and benthic mat consortia. Variation in the short-chain (n-C17 to n-C20) versus long-chain (n-C21 to n-C30) n-alkanes in the mosses and benthic mats with their colour were noted. The research links the relative abundance of short-chain n-alkanes to the UV-B exposure and proposes that Antarctic mosses and benthic mats synthesise short-chain n-alkanes for protection against UV-B.

Original languageEnglish
Article number104587
Number of pages14
JournalOrganic Geochemistry
Volume179
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Bibliographical note

Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care
Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.

Keywords

  • Antarctica
  • Benthic mat
  • Larsemann Hills
  • Moss
  • n-alkanes
  • Ultraviolet radiation

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Short-chain n-alkanes in benthic mats and mosses from the Larsemann Hills, East Antarctica'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this