National Sun Yat-sen University’s assistant professor of biological sciences Fu Han-yi (傅瀚儀) teamed up with Taiwanese and Korean scholars to sequence the genome of a novel species of red algae collected at Yangmingshan National Park. The research team named this species "Yangmingshan hot spring red algae.”
Fu, alongside Tunghai University’s assistant professor of life sciences Liu Shao-lun (劉少倫), Academia Sinica biodiversity researcher Chiang Yin-ru (江殷儒), and Sungkyunkwan University’s associate professor of biological sciences Hwan Su Yoon, used gene sequencing techniques to classify the algae. They then conducted a comparative genomics analysis to differentiate the algae from a similar genus and species under which it had previously been misclassified.
Fu says the algae possesses thermophilic and acidophilic properties, has a unique mechanism for regulating photosynthesis, and can absorb heavy metals. These characteristics make it an excellent candidate for applications in environmental biotechnologies such as carbon sequestration and wastewater treatment.
The research team published their findings in academic journals including the internationally renowned Journal of Phycology. They aim to continue studying this new algae to better understand its photosynthetic regulation mechanism and electrochromic reaction characteristics.
