Diversidad fenotípica de la cianobacteria Pseudophormidium tenue (Oscillatoriales, Microcoleaceae), nuevo reporte para el Perú.

Tropical coastal desert ecosystems are widely distributed in the west of South America. In spite of the arid lands, the water availability from the wet sea fog drifted from the Pacific Ocean to coastal hills (lomas) and the annual winter fluctuating drizzles favor the development of extreme cyanobacterial communities. The evaluated area was located in Pachacamac lomas, south of Lima and the standard cyanobacterial collections (crusts, biofilms or terrestrial mats) were carried out irregularly in 1995 and 2012. Cyanobacterial cultures in BBM and N8 media generated the population growth of Pseudophormidium tenue Anagnostidis & Komárek with diverse morphotypes. This species, new record for our country, was part of the biofilm structure mainly and it was reassigned to the present taxa according to the polyphasic approach already established. Phenotypic plasticity of P. tenue with morphotypes formation is related to its life strategies such as its thalli ramifications with a notorious sheath formation under stress conditions for successful colonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]