Unraveling the effects of biotic interactions on snow algae behaviour

In polar regions and high-altitude mountain ranges, snow algae blooms develop during summer and form colorful surfaces in melting snow. Snow algae not only contribute to primary production and carbon dioxide absorption in snow ecosystems, but these blooms also darken the snow surface, increasing the absorbance of thermal energy and contributing to accelerated melting of these habitats. A wide diversity of snow-algae species and associated microbes have been observed in snow microbiomes, yet little is known about how environmental conditions and the behaviour of cells interact and potentially promote the development, functioning and community dynamics of visible surface blooms. In this project we aim to understand how temperature and biotic interactions affect the behavior of snow-algae adapted to life in the Arctic. Our investigations will first focus on describing the effect of temperature variations on key cellular structures and then explore how snow algae respond to signals from, and interactions with, other microbes.