Clypeina tibanai, sp. nov. (Polyphysacea, Dasycladales, Chlorophyta), mid-Cretaceous green alga from the Potiguar Basin, Brazilian margin of the young South Atlantic Ocean

The fossil genus Clypeina (Michelin, 1845) comprises some 40 species. We describe Clypeina tibanai, a new species from ? upper Albian-Cenomanian strata of the Potiguar Basin, Brazil, characterised by closely set verticils of tubular, bended laterals. It is compared with Clypeina hanabataensis Yabe & Toyama, 1949, a Late Jurassic species, and with Pseudoactinoporella fragilis (Conrad, 1970), an Early Cretaceous taxon. The new species belongs to a short list of green algae found in the young South Atlantic oceanic corridor, an assemblage defining a phycological paleobioprovince discrete from that of the Tethyan realm.

Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp nov (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), a 100 million year old fossil coralline red alga from north-eastern Brazil, and a new Hauterivian record of Sporolithon from Switzerland

Fossil specimens of Heydrichia (?) poignantii, sp. nov. (Sporolithaceae, Sporolithales, Rhodophyta), representing the first confirmation of the genus in the fossil record, were discovered in thin sections of Albian limestones from the Riachuelo Formation, Sergipe Basin, and in thin sections of Albian -Cenomanian limestones from the Ponta do Mel Formation, Potiguar Basin in north-eastern Brazil. A detailed morphological-anatomical account of the species is provided, and its placement in Heydrichia is discussed in relation to current classification proposals. Comparisons with the four other known species of the genus, all non-fossil, show that H. poignantii is the only known species of Heydrichia in which thalli are encrusting to sparsely warty to horizontally layered with overlapping lamellate branches that commonly appear variously curved or arched, and in which thalli have sporangial complexes that become buried in the thallus. The evolutionary history of Heydrichia remains uncertain, but available data suggest that the genus may have diverged from the sporolithacean genus Sporolithon, known as early as Hauterivian times (c. 129.4-132.9 +/- 1 Ma) from Spain (and newly reported here from Switzerland), or it may have arisen from a graticulacean alga such as Graticula, dating from mid-Silurian times (c. 427-435 Ma). Current data also suggest that Heydrichia is more likely to have arrived in Brazil from Central Atlantic waters than from higher latitude South Atlantic waters. This implies that currently living species in southern Africa probably arose later from ancestors further equatorward in the South Atlantic, although confirming studies are needed. All non-fossil species of Heydrichia are known only from the southern hemisphere.

Influência do herbicida Glifosato (N-Fosfonometil)Glicina) na formação de biomassa da alga Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata (Chlorophyceae)

Herbicides are chemical agents most consumed for agricultural production and of these, glyphosate (N-(phosphonomethyl) glycine) represents more than half of world consumption of non-selective herbicides, use of systemic action and post-emergent. The present study aims to analyze the interference of different concentrations of glyphosate in the development of micro algae, unicellular species Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata, with supplementary analysis of the interference of green algae concentrations in the artificial lake Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista in Rio Claro, SP. To identify the effect of glyphosate on the development of microalgae concentrations: 0.118; 0.236; 0.472; 0.944; 1.888 and 3.776 mg of product (all in rejoinders), maintaining control without glyphosate, were inoculated into flasks containing 150mL of medium culture and 5mL of suspension inoculum levels. Each test was continued for 96 hours in a shaker rotating at 150 rpm at 25 / - 2 ° C and constant light of 3200 lux. At baseline and 48; 72 and 96 hours samples were taken for testing for absorbance. The final dry weight was measured and the tests with P. subcapitata cell number was quantified at the beginning and end of the tests using the Neubauer chamber under optical microscope. For algae of the artificial lake of the diversity of microalgae cells was identified through photographic documentation. The analysis of variance comparing treatments for dry biomass showed no significant differences in the tests with P. subicapitata as for the algae to the lake.The analysis of variance MANOVA showed significant differences between the treatments over time but there was no significant difference between the interactions of treatment for tests with P. subicapitata There were significant differences in the tests with microalgae of the artificial lake. With respect to cell quantification, it was found... (Complete abstract click electronic acces below)

Phylogeography of the freshwater red alga Sirodotia (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Eficácia e ecotoxicidade do diquat em mistura com fontes de cobre para controle de Ceratophyllum demersum e alga unicelular e filamentosa

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Produção Vegetal) - FCAV

Estudo químico e biológico dos fungos endofíticos Microascus sp. e Nodulisporium sp. associados à alga vermelha Asparagopsis Taxiformis

Pós-graduação em Química - IQ

Bioprospecção do fungo endofítico Hypoxylon investiens associado à alga marinha Asparagopsis taxiformis: potencial antifúngico, anticolinesterásico e antitumoral

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Influence of a narrow depth gradient and season on the morphology, phenology, and epibiosis of the brown alga Sargassum cymosum

Temporal and spatial fluctuations of environmental parameters are normally assigned as causes of variations in morpho-phenological characters of seaweeds and in their epibionts, but formal tests of such hypotheses are lacking, especially in narrow gradients. The present study evaluated the influence of a very small depth gradient (1 to 3 m) and of subtle seasonality characteristic of tropical areas on morpho-phenological traits and on the occurrence of sessile epiphytic organisms using a controlled orthogonal sampling design in a sublittoral population of the tropical brown alga Sargassum cymosum. Four temporal samples were obtained over a one-year period at three depths using nine replicates. The wet weight, maximum length, number of primary and secondary branches, and proportion of secondary branches with receptacles were recorded. Epibiosis was estimated by visual evaluation of percentage cover on secondary branches. Algal morphology varied as a function of the period of the year (weaker effect) and depth (stronger effect) but in different ways for each variable analysed. In general, fronds tended to be shorter, heavier, and more ramified in shallower areas. In relation to time, the morphological characters tended mostly to present higher values in January (summer) and/or April (autumn). Frequency of receptacles did not depend on algal morphology and depth at all but varied in time, although only in the deepest area. Epibiosis also did not depend on algal morphology but varied in relation to time (stronger effect) and, to a lesser extent, depth (weaker effect). The effect of time upon epibiosis also depended on the biological group analysed. These data support the hypothesis that algal morphology varies in relation to period of the year and depth, even under small temporal and spatial environmenal gradients.