IMUASYA
Antartic Microalgae Research

Being the primary producers of the food chain, microalgae are the special community of eukaryotic photoautotrophs that are responsible for the production of the majority of the atmospheric oxygen which enriches their biodiversity through the course of evolution. They adapt well to a wide range of habitats of oceans, seas, rivers, fresh ad alkaline waters, humid rocks, caves, sands, deserts, brackish waters, snows, and glaciers. Snow microalgae are a group of extremophile organisms that represent several psychrophilic and psychrotolerant microalgae that can make algal blooms to cover thousands of square meters in coastal snowfields of the Antarctic peninsula. The Project IMU-ASYA focuses on the understanding of the distribution and composition of the snow microalgae of Dismal Island (68°05′S-68°51′W) and Horseshoe island (67°51′S-67°12′W) where the Turkish research base is positioned.