Presencia de Haematococcus pluvialis (Flotow, 1844) en la provincia de Zamora (Haematococcaceae)

Abstract

Haematococcus pluvialis is a unicellular green algae which produces astaxanthin, a type of ketocarotenoide, commonly used in the aquaculture industry and with major antioxidant properties. This type of algae is characteristic of freshwater environments such as lakes or small ponds, where they proliferate rapidly depending on the ambient light conditions, salinity and nutrients. These are also the conditions that determine the life cycle of this unicellular organism that goes through four different stages: vegetative cell growth, encyst, maturation and germination. The geographical distribution of this algae is extensive, it has been widely described within large distances over different continental areas of the northern hemisphere. In this work, we described the finding of Haematococcus pluvialis in rainwater collected in the town of Ayoó of Vidriales (Zamora). The determination of this specie using an optical microscopy allowed us to determine the presence of different species and a diversity of stages comprising the life cycle of the cells, characterized by the presence of a clear and transparent protein shell and a core cell wall specimens in those immature stage of cyst; whereas those in which the life cycle coincides with the early phase of encyst, the core cell acquires a high level of chlorophyll and protein, but substantially reduces the carotenoid content. The analysis of meteorological data and comparison with other similar specimens such as Vitreochlamys velata (recorded in the nearby Sanabria Lake), revealed the geographical dispersion suffered by this type of microalgae, controlled by the strong westerlies that affected the northwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula during the past autumn 2014.