Study co-author Emeritus Professor Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa initially discovered the algae when the water in his home goldfish tank turned green after he added medaka fish (Japanese rice fish), and he decided to look at samples under his home microscopic lense. Where the algae originated from– the water, fish, or somewhere else– is still unknown.
The discovery of ultrasmall microalgae in a house fish tank might have numerous beneficial applications.
Researchers from the University of Tokyo have revealed a new types of microalgae, named Medakamo hakoo, during a DNA analysis of water from a home aquarium. With its special DNA sequence not found in any previous records, this types stands out as the tiniest recognized freshwater green algae. Its impressive ability to be stably cultivated at high densities opens up exciting possibilities for its use in producing important products for both food and commercial purposes.
If you have ever encountered seaweed, browsed through vegetation in a stream, or cleared a dirty green aquarium, you recognize with algae. These diverse marine organisms, which come in different shapes, colors, and sizes, flourish on water, light, and nutrients. Microalgae, a type of algae that is ultrasmall and invisible to the naked eye, play a crucial function in the Earths ecosystem as they function as the foundation of all aquatic food chains.
They have drawn in specific attention from scientists and businesses for their capability to catch carbon dioxide, their usage as a biofuel, as an alternative source of protein, and more. There are 10s of countless kinds of microalgae, which continue to flourish in unexpected places.
Research study co-author Emeritus Professor Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa initially discovered the algae when the water in his home goldfish tank turned green after he added medaka fish (Japanese rice fish), and he decided to look at samples under his house microscopic lense. With its unique DNA series not discovered in any previous records, this types stands out as the smallest known freshwater green algae. If you have actually ever experienced seaweed, browsed through plants in a stream, or cleared a dirty green fish tank, you are familiar with algae. We then sequenced the DNA of that alga and compared it to the DNA of other algae. “Aquatic green algae are the stemming organisms of todays land plants.
This microscopic fluorescent image of a Medakamo hakoo reveals a chloroplast (red), a nucleus (green), and a cytoplasm (blue) in the algas cell. The white scale bar shows 500 nanometers (0.0005 millimeters). Credit: 2023 Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa
” We were very shocked to find a new types of microalgae in simply a routine home aquarium,” stated Professor Sachihiro Matsunaga from the Graduate School of Frontier Sciences. “Alga were taken from the water and cultured one by one. The DNA of the alga was fluorescently stained and microscopically observed to find the one with the least quantity of DNA per cell. We then sequenced the DNA of that alga and compared it to the DNA of other algae. The results did not match the DNA of any previously reported algae, showing that it was a new types, and we named it Medakamo hakoo (M. hakoo).”.
Microalgae are comprised of reasonably few genes, and this straightforward type makes them helpful for scientists trying to identify what functions various genes play and how they might be utilized. Of the tens of thousands of recognized microalgae, lots of remain uncharacterized. Thanks to this newest research study, we now know that not only is this a brand-new types, however it also has the tiniest recognized genome of any freshwater algae, in addition to other helpful qualities.
This suggests that it is a green alga with an extremely simple cell structure,” discussed Matsunaga. “From our research, we have actually likewise speculated that it has an extraordinary DNA structure and a new gene regulatory system.
“Aquatic green algae are the coming from organisms of todays land plants. Thanks to this research, we can much better comprehend the minimum number of genes required for an organism to develop and prosper in varied environments, which we will continue to study,” said Matsunaga.
Reference: “Genomic analysis of an ultrasmall freshwater green alga, Medakamo hakoo” by Shoichi Kato, Osami Misumi, Shinichiro Maruyama, Hisayoshi Nozaki, Yayoi Tsujimoto-Inui, Mari Takusagawa, Shigekatsu Suzuki, Keiko Kuwata, Saki Noda, Nanami Ito, Yoji Okabe, Takuya Sakamoto, Fumi Yagisawa, Tomoko M. Matsunaga, Yoshikatsu Matsubayashi, Haruyo Yamaguchi, Masanobu Kawachi, Haruko Kuroiwa, Tsuneyoshi Kuroiwa and Sachihiro Matsunaga, 23 January 2023, Communications Biology.DOI: 10.1038/ s42003-022-04367-9.
Financing: MXT/JSPS KAKENHI financing, jst-opera and jst-crest grants.
