Life history bias in endophyte infection of the Antarctic rhodophyte, Iridaea cordata

Abstract

AbstractEndophytic organisms are known to have varied effects on their host organism in terrestrial and marine environments. In previous studies on marine algae, these symbioses range from innocuous to pathogenic depending on the host and endophyte species. The present study further assessed a pathogenic relationship between filamentous algal endophytes and a red algal host from the western Antarctic Peninsula. We analyzed endophyte presence (appearance of filamentous thalli) in the three life history stages of