DNA analysis reveals origin and dispersal of the microorganism Cyanidiophyceae in Iceland
Wednesday, January 14, 2015 - 07:00
in Biology & Nature
The microbial species assigned to the taxonomic class Cyanidiophyceae display worldwide, but discontinuous, distribution. How they came to be found in some parts of the world is a matter of debate among scientists. The Cyanidiophyceae, unicellular organisms that diverged from ancestral red algae about 1.3 billion years ago, live in hot springs and other geothermal habitats. Scientists are using DNA sequences to discover biogeographic patterns of these microorganisms, as shown by a study in the journal Phycologia.