The UL Lafayette
Seaweeds Home Page
University
of Louisiana at Lafayette
Department
of Biology
PO Box 42451
Lafayette, LA 70504-2451
Fredericq Laboratory 2004-2005
front: Tae
Oh Cho, Frederico Gurgel, Natalia Arakaki,
Constanza Ehrenhaus; back: William Schmidt, Boo Yeon Won, Suzanne
Fredericq, David
Krayesky on board the R/V Pelican
from left to right: front
row: M. Ganesan, Suzanne
Fredericq, Boo Yeon Won, Constanza
Ehrenhaus, Tae
Oh Choback row: David
Krayesky,William
Schmidt, Frederico
Gurgel, Matt Viguerie
-
2003 (from left to right)
- Brian Hoffpauir, Juan Lopez-Bautista, Boo
Yeon Won, David Krayesky, Suzanne Fredericq , William
Schmidt, Katie Fugler, Matt Viguerie, and Tae
Oh Cho.
-
- 2002
- (from left to right)
-
- Katie Fugler / Suzanne Fredericq
/ David Krayesky /
- Brigitte Gavio / William Schmidt
/ Juan Lopez-Bautista/
- Matt Viguerie / Tae Oh Cho
- 2001-2002
- (from left to right)
-
- Tae Oh Cho / Fumilayo Rita / Suzanne Fredericq /
- Brigitte Gavio / Brian Wysor / Juan Lopez / Matt Viguerie
- 1997-2001
- (from left to right)
-
- Brian Wysor | Brigitte Gavio | Naomi Phillips | Suzanne
Fredericq |
- Showe Mei Lin | Juan Lopez | Fred Gurgel
Moved on to other phycological realms: Showe Mei Lin, Naomi
Phillips, Brigitte
Gavio, Fred Gurgel, Juan Lopez-Bautista
and Brian Wysor
| Links | Selected
Research Projects
The focus of our research in the Biology department at the University
of Louisiana at Lafayette is red algal systematics. Our main interests lie
in discovering and analyzing patterns of morphological and molecular evolution
in the entire class Rhodophyta in the context of a collections-based research program.
Our goal is to correlate molecular and morphological data sets from marine
taxa around the world with possible biogeographic hypotheses.
Currently our laboratory is investigating the phylogenetic relationships
of red algae above the species level using a combination of two approaches.
The morphological approach is very successful in generating taxonomic concepts
based on a comparative analysis of characters which illustrate the differentiation
of vegetative and reproductive (sexual and asexual) structures as a function
of stages of filament ontogeny and cytological modification. The florideophycean
red algae are unusual in that the plant body, including the reproductive
structures, are made up entirely of branched filaments in which the cells
are linked by pit connections, so that the origin of every filamentous structure can be traced back and illustrated cell by cell, filament by filament.
Once the developmental sequence of a morphological structure is understood
and illustrated in one taxon, it is compared with that in other taxa. Our
goal is to try to asses the homology of the morphological characters for
the purpose of constructing morphological data sets for phylogenetic analyses.
The molecular approach we currently employ is to construct nucleotide
data sets based on direct sequence analysis of rbcL, the chloroplast
gene that codes for the large subunit of RuBisCO and an excellent gene of
choice for inferring phylogenetic relationships within the red algae at
various taxonomic levels. We are also sequencing the nuclear large-subunit
ribosomal DNA gene (LSUrDNA) and the internal transcribed spacer regions
(ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA for selected taxonomic problems. These detailed
comparative studies of both DNA sequence analysis and developmental morphology
are important to test current systems of classification and generate new
systems of classification.
Current research projects have been funded by NSF,
DOE, MMS,
NOAA-NURC, USGS
SELECTED RESEARCH PROJECTS:
*Phyllophoraceae project
(funded by NSF
Systematic Biology Program)
*Algal diversity of Northern Gulf
of Mexico Hard Bank Communities
- On-going studies are focused on the algal composition
and phylogenetic relationships among deep-water, offshore hard bank communities
in the Gulf of Mexico. Data from these studies provides a framework of
seasonal algal composition against which biogeographic and phylogenetic
relationships can be assessed. It also provides baseline data that is useful
for assessing the success of marine sanctuaries at preserving biodiversity.
These projects have focused on repeat trips to the Texas Flower Gardens,
Stetson
and Sonnier Banks off the coast of Louisiana and an excursion to the
Florida Middle Ground as part of the National Geographic Society documented
Sustainable
Seas Expeditions. Research activities are funded by DOE-EETAP, NURC/NOAA research grants, and the
Texas Flower Garden Banks
Marine Sanctuary Program.
-
- *Macroalgal
diversity from gas and oil platforms in Louisiana
-
- *Algal diversity of Caribbean
and Pacific Panama
-
- This survey provides baseline data for elucidation of
biogeographic patterns among marine algae as well as for monitoring the
future impacts of shipping traffic through the Panama Canal.
-
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
The Phycological
Society of America
British Phycological Society
The Seaweed Homepage
The Algae Homepage,
Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution
The Tree of Life Homepage
Phylogenetics
Resources
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
Marine Conservation Biology Institute
FAVORITE
ARTIST
University
of Louisiana at Lafayette
UL Lafayette Seaweeds
Department
of Biology
PO Box 42451
Lafayette, LA 70504-2451
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