MERG - Universitetet i Oslo

MERG
Hydrurus foetidus, a large freshwater representative of the
Chromalveolate (SAR?) clade
Objectives of the project
- Clear up the molecular phylogeny of a strain from Finse
- Collect and publish all information on Hydrurus from Norway
- Critically go through all published records of this sp. worlwide
- Based upon environmental information, bring a strain into culture
- Study the evolutionary conditioned plasticity expressed under different culture conditions
From left: Hydrurus foetidus (Photo: Dag Klaveness), Hydrurus foetidus (Photo: Dag Klaveness), Part of Tafel 1 (XV) from
Berthold 1878
Project summary
Hydrurus foetidus (Vill.) Trev. 1843 is a multicellular, arbuscular representative of the golden algae,
appearing seasonally in cold rivers, typically in early spring season during snowmelt. The thallus may
reach considerable dimensions, but under natural conditions a length of 3-10 cm is typical. This alga
has a long history of scientific attention, because its size and morphological plasticity do not fit in
among the typical golden algae – and the fragility of the thallus have resisted any attempt of bringing it
into culture in liquid media, since Rostafinski first tried in 1882. A molecular phylogeny has alredy been
constructed based upon partial 18S and 28S rDNA sequences, without a definitive location among the
chrysophytes – but securely located among the latter. We have solved the basic problems with
culturing, but there remains a lot of thinking to design experimental conditions for the laboratory study
of this obligate psychrophilic rheophile (= low-temperature and highturbulence-dependent organism).
The team
Jon Bråte (PhD), Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi, Kjetill S. Jakobsen, Nina Værøy (MSc student), Eli-Anne
Lindstrøm, Dag Klaveness
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