Stromatolite colony found in Giant's Causeway

In a small grey puddle tucked into a corner of the world famous Giant's Causeway, scientists have made an extraordinary find.

A colony of stromatolites - tiny structures made by primitive blue-green algae.

Stromatolites are the oldest known fossils in the world.

The tiny algae or bacteria that build them are also thought to be the most ancient life form that is still around today, after more than three billion years.
What makes the discovery in Northern Ireland so remarkable is that until now these structures have been found mainly in warm and often hyper saline waters which discourage predators.

The stromatolites in the Giant's Causeway are in a tiny brackish pool, exposed to the violence of waves and easy prey to the animals that are already living amongst them.

Stromatolites are formed by blue-green algae that excrete carbonate to form a dome-like structure. Over thousands of years these build up into a hard rock that continues to grow.
Stromatolite fossils have been dated as far back as three and a half billion years.

The colony at the Giant's Causeway on Northern Ireland's wind-swept north coast was found by accident.

Scientists from the School of Environmental Sciences at the nearby University of Ulster were looking for very different geological formations when Professor Andrew Cooper spotted the stromatolites.

'Puzzling'
"I was very surprised", explained Professor Cooper.
"I was walking along with a colleague looking at something else. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted these structures which, had I not seen them before in my work in South Africa, I probably wouldn't have known what they were."

The colony is very young, just a layer thick, so it's recently formed. One thing that is puzzling scientists is why its chosen this spot.
"There is some unusual set of circumstances that occurs just here that doesn't occur even 10 metres away along the beach," said Professor Cooper.

Read on...

By Mike McKimm BBC NI environment correspondent

Salamander Has Algae Living Inside Its Cells

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/04/symbiotic-salamander/

In a symbiotic union more complete than any previously found in vertebrates, the common spotted salamander lives with algae inside its cells.

Such a degree of cross-species fusion was long thought to exist only among invertebrates, whose immune systems are not primed to destroy invaders. But algae live inside the salamanders from before birth, possibly passed down from parent to offspring.

“A large number of algae cells go inside the embryo. That was something we didn’t expect,” said Ryan Kerney, a Dalhousie University biologist.

That spotted salamanders and algae live in symbiosis was first noted in the 19th century, and in the 20th century researchers worked out the relationship’s mutual benefits. Salamander eggs provide a nitrogen-rich environment for algae to grow; algae oxygenate the embryos, which develop deformities without them. But algae were believed to float outside the embryo itself, in the egg’s nutrient broth. It fell to Kerney to notice that algae’s distinctive green glow didn’t just emanate from eggs, but from inside embryos.

Those results were announced at a conference last summer, and are expanded in greater detail Apr. 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new paper adds confirmations from electron microscopy and fluorescent markers that attach to algae, flashing inside embryos and proving that Kerney’s group saw what it suspected.

Algae invade spotted salamander embryos early in their development, when individuals are just beginning to take shape inside their eggs, as the brain folds up and tissue layers-to-be first organize themselves. As an embryo develops, algae suffuses its body, but most becomes concentrated along its gut and alimentary canal.

That suggests a possible role for algae in nutrient processing, though it’s an unresolved question, one of many. Another is how algae actually enter the embryo’s cells. Some unknown signal seems to trigger an algae bloom beside the embryo, but the precise moment and mechanism of invasion is a mystery.

Also unknown is whether algae drift in from water in pools where spotted salamanders lay their eggs, or are passed down from parents, though Kerney suspects both are involved

Still more questions surround whether other salamander-algae symbioses are so complete, whether different species of algae are involved, and whether such symbioses might be found in other amphibians. “There are so many questions that remain,” said Kerney, and all in a species that’s been studied in great detail for decades, in the lab and the wild.

Spotted salamanders are found in eastern North America and spend most of their lives underground. (Kerney stresses that, contrary to some media reports on the symbiosis, spotted salamanders are not photosynthetic.) They’re relatively easy to find in spring, when after the first warm rains they crawl outside to find vernal pools and reproduce. Kerney often sees them while walking in the woods, and even in the wheel ruts of ATV tracks. “There are interesting things going on, and new biological processes to be investigated, in our own backyards,” he said.

Oceana calls for the expansion of three marine protected areas to protect vital undersea forests

The organization has documented the existence of deep-sea laminarians near Alboran, Columbretes and Cabrera islands in Western Mediterranean.


A variety of species rely on these habitats, which are often unprotected because they occur far from the coast.


Oceana has proposed the expansion of three protected areas in Spanish Mediterranean to include deeper waters so as to safeguard laminarian forests, which are essential marine habitats due to their associated biodiversity. The initiative was presented today in Tunisia during the 4th Symposium on Marine Vegetation held within the framework of the United Nations Mediterranean Action Plan[1].

The proposal urges protection for deep-sea laminarian forests from the Laminaria and Phylliariopsis genera, present on sea floors that are located outside the current limits of Cabrera National Park and the marine reserves of Alboran Island and the Columbretes Islands. One of these deep-sea species, Laminaria rodriguezii, is endemic to the Mediterranean and is currently endangered. Oceana identified this species during a recent expedition outside the limits of the protected area of Columbretes and Cabrera.

Laminarians are brown algae that can grow to be very long, measuring over four meters in Spanish waters including the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Cantabrian, and up to 30 meters in other seas around the world. These algae can occur at a wide variety of depths, although they need light to photosynthesize: from the coastline –in the intertidal zone, as it occurs in the Cantabrian- to deeper areas up to 100 meters from the surface. Oceana used divers and an ROV (undersea robot) to film and photograph these plants.

The habitats created by laminarians are especially important because they form veritable undersea forests that shelter a wide variety of marine species, from small invertebrates and other algae that develop among and on their stipes and blades, to molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans, sharks, rays and other fish, even cetaceans. All of these organisms depend on these habitats at some point in their life cycles. However, laminarians receive different levels of protection and one species (Saccorhiza polyschides) has yet to be included in any protection convention.

Marine protected areas, have generally been designed and designated for coastal areas, protecting shallow ecosystems while ignoring important deep-sea habitats. Thus, these habitats have been forgotten by protection measures for the marine environment.

http://eu.oceana.org/en/eu/media-reports/press-releases/oceana-calls-for-the-expansion-of-three-marine-protected-areas-to-protect-vital-undersea-forests

Oceana calls for the expansion of three marine protected areas to protect vital undersea forests

The organization has documented the existence of deep-sea laminarians near Alboran, Columbretes and Cabrera islands in Western Mediterranean.


A variety of species rely on these habitats, which are often unprotected because they occur far from the coast.


Oceana has proposed the expansion of three protected areas in Spanish Mediterranean to include deeper waters so as to safeguard laminarian forests, which are essential marine habitats due to their associated biodiversity. The initiative was presented today in Tunisia during the 4th Symposium on Marine Vegetation held within the framework of the United Nations Mediterranean Action Plan[1].

The proposal urges protection for deep-sea laminarian forests from the Laminaria and Phylliariopsis genera, present on sea floors that are located outside the current limits of Cabrera National Park and the marine reserves of Alboran Island and the Columbretes Islands. One of these deep-sea species, Laminaria rodriguezii, is endemic to the Mediterranean and is currently endangered. Oceana identified this species during a recent expedition outside the limits of the protected area of Columbretes and Cabrera.

Laminarians are brown algae that can grow to be very long, measuring over four meters in Spanish waters including the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Cantabrian, and up to 30 meters in other seas around the world. These algae can occur at a wide variety of depths, although they need light to photosynthesize: from the coastline –in the intertidal zone, as it occurs in the Cantabrian- to deeper areas up to 100 meters from the surface. Oceana used divers and an ROV (undersea robot) to film and photograph these plants.

The habitats created by laminarians are especially important because they form veritable undersea forests that shelter a wide variety of marine species, from small invertebrates and other algae that develop among and on their stipes and blades, to molluscs, echinoderms, crustaceans, sharks, rays and other fish, even cetaceans. All of these organisms depend on these habitats at some point in their life cycles. However, laminarians receive different levels of protection and one species (Saccorhiza polyschides) has yet to be included in any protection convention.

Marine protected areas, have generally been designed and designated for coastal areas, protecting shallow ecosystems while ignoring important deep-sea habitats. Thus, these habitats have been forgotten by protection measures for the marine environment.

http://eu.oceana.org/en/eu/media-reports/press-releases/oceana-calls-for-the-expansion-of-three-marine-protected-areas-to-protect-vital-undersea-forests

Ancient seaweed is living fossil

By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News

Verdigellas: older than we thought

Ancient seaweed that have been found growing in the deep sea are "living fossils", researchers have reported.

The two types of seaweed, which grow more than 200m underwater, represent previously unrecognised ancient forms of algae, say the scientists.

As such, the algae could belong to the earliest of all known green plants, diverging up to one billion years ago from the ancestor of all such plants.

Details of the discovery are published in the Journal of Phycology.

"The algae occur in relatively deep marine waters - 210m, which is certainly deep for a photosynthetic organism," Professor Frederick Zechman told the BBC.

"They can be found in shallower water but typically under ledges in low light.

"They appear to possess special chlorophyll pigments that allow them to utilise the low intensity blue light found at depth."

Professor Zechman of California State University in Fresno, US, sampled the seaweeds with a team of researchers based across the US and in Belgium.

The algae had previously been identified. They belong to the scientific groups, or genera, called Palmophyllum and Verdigellas.

But Professor Zechman's team is the first to study their genetic make-up, and it is this research that has revealed their startling ancestry.

Green origins
Green plants in general belong to one of two groups, or clades.

One clade includes all land plants and the green algae with the most complex structures, known as charophytes or more commonly stoneworts.

The other clade, known as the Cholorophyta, comprises all other green algae.

Most studies have sought to determine what ancient plants gave rise to the land plants and stoneworts.

But little research has been done into the origin of the other green algae.

So Professor Zechman's team collected and studied Palmophyllum algae from New Zealand waters and Verdigellas from the western Atlantic Ocean.

These algae are unusual as they are multicellular, but their individual cells do not interact with each other in any meaningful way.

Instead, single cells sit in a gelatinous matrix, which can form complex shapes such as stalks.

The scientists analysed the DNA within the nuclei and chloroplasts in the algae's cells.

Instead of belonging to the Cholorophyta, the scientists discovered that both types of algae actually belong to a distinct new group of green plants, one that is incredibly ancient.


The algae are so different that they should be assigned their own Order, a high level taxonomic group, say the scientists.

What is more, "by comparing those gene sequences to the same genes in other green plants, we have discovered that these green algae are among the earliest diverging green plants... if not the earliest diverging lineage of green plants," Professor Zechman told the BBC.

"That would put them in the ball park of over a billion years old."

Plant progenitor
The discovery could "vastly change" our view of which green plant was the ancestor to all those we see today, he says.

That progenitor of green plants is currently thought to be a single-celled plant that had a tail-like structure called a flagellum, which allows the cell to move itself in water.

But no single-celled or flagellated algae of the types studied by Professor Zechman's team have been observed, suggesting the earliest green plants may not have had flagella after all.

Professor Zechman said the previously unrecognised ancient algae could be characterised as "living fossils", even though no actual fossils of such algae are known to exist.

The algae's ability to harness low light intensities allows them to grow in deep water habitats - and that may be the key to their incredible longevity.

At such depths, plants face less stress from the actions of waves, variations in temperature and fewer herbivores that might feed on them.

Ancient seaweed is living fossil

By Matt Walker Editor, Earth News

Verdigellas: older than we thought

Ancient seaweed that have been found growing in the deep sea are "living fossils", researchers have reported.

The two types of seaweed, which grow more than 200m underwater, represent previously unrecognised ancient forms of algae, say the scientists.

As such, the algae could belong to the earliest of all known green plants, diverging up to one billion years ago from the ancestor of all such plants.

Details of the discovery are published in the Journal of Phycology.

"The algae occur in relatively deep marine waters - 210m, which is certainly deep for a photosynthetic organism," Professor Frederick Zechman told the BBC.

"They can be found in shallower water but typically under ledges in low light.

"They appear to possess special chlorophyll pigments that allow them to utilise the low intensity blue light found at depth."

Professor Zechman of California State University in Fresno, US, sampled the seaweeds with a team of researchers based across the US and in Belgium.

The algae had previously been identified. They belong to the scientific groups, or genera, called Palmophyllum and Verdigellas.

But Professor Zechman's team is the first to study their genetic make-up, and it is this research that has revealed their startling ancestry.

Green origins
Green plants in general belong to one of two groups, or clades.

One clade includes all land plants and the green algae with the most complex structures, known as charophytes or more commonly stoneworts.

The other clade, known as the Cholorophyta, comprises all other green algae.

Most studies have sought to determine what ancient plants gave rise to the land plants and stoneworts.

But little research has been done into the origin of the other green algae.

So Professor Zechman's team collected and studied Palmophyllum algae from New Zealand waters and Verdigellas from the western Atlantic Ocean.

These algae are unusual as they are multicellular, but their individual cells do not interact with each other in any meaningful way.

Instead, single cells sit in a gelatinous matrix, which can form complex shapes such as stalks.

The scientists analysed the DNA within the nuclei and chloroplasts in the algae's cells.

Instead of belonging to the Cholorophyta, the scientists discovered that both types of algae actually belong to a distinct new group of green plants, one that is incredibly ancient.


The algae are so different that they should be assigned their own Order, a high level taxonomic group, say the scientists.

What is more, "by comparing those gene sequences to the same genes in other green plants, we have discovered that these green algae are among the earliest diverging green plants... if not the earliest diverging lineage of green plants," Professor Zechman told the BBC.

"That would put them in the ball park of over a billion years old."

Plant progenitor
The discovery could "vastly change" our view of which green plant was the ancestor to all those we see today, he says.

That progenitor of green plants is currently thought to be a single-celled plant that had a tail-like structure called a flagellum, which allows the cell to move itself in water.

But no single-celled or flagellated algae of the types studied by Professor Zechman's team have been observed, suggesting the earliest green plants may not have had flagella after all.

Professor Zechman said the previously unrecognised ancient algae could be characterised as "living fossils", even though no actual fossils of such algae are known to exist.

The algae's ability to harness low light intensities allows them to grow in deep water habitats - and that may be the key to their incredible longevity.

At such depths, plants face less stress from the actions of waves, variations in temperature and fewer herbivores that might feed on them.

Satellite spies vast algal bloom in Baltic Sea

A satellite image has revealed the scale of a vast algal bloom spreading in the Baltic Sea.

The potentially toxic bloom, covering 377,000 sq km, could pose a risk to marine life in the region, warn scientists.

They added that a lack of wind and prolonged high temperatures had triggered the largest bloom since 2005.

The affected area stretches from Finland in the north to parts of Germany and Poland in the south.

The image, captured earlier this month, was recorded by a camera on the European Space Agency's Envisat satellite.

Researchers monitoring the spread of the blue-green algae said such blooms had spread over the Baltic Sea each summer for decades.

They added that fertilizers from surrounding agricultural land were being washed into the sea and exacerbating the problem.

This has led to a process called eutrophication, in which the additional nutrients stimulate rapid growth of phytoplankton - microscopic free-floating marine plants.

This accelerated growth also reduces the amount of oxygen available to other plant and animal species in the affected area; raising fears that it could destabilise fragile marine ecosystems.

As well threatening certain species, blue-green algae can also pose a risk to human health, and officials are advising people not to bathe in areas where the algae is visible.

However, researchers said the current bloom would quickly break up with the arrival of strong winds, as the resulting waves would disperse the algae.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10740097