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1. Marine Benthic Algae from Ni‘ihau and Adjacent Lehua Islet, Main Hawaiian Islands

   Tsuda, R.T.; Abbott, I.A.; Spalding, H.L.; Giuseffi, L.M.; Okano, R.; Kennedy, B.H.; Sherwood, A.R. (July 2021, Bishop Museum occasional papers)

   null (Ed.)

   The published records of marine benthic algal species from the privately-owned island of Ni‘ihau (Hawaiian Islands) are represented by four species cited in abbott (1999) and abbott & Huisman (2004). The species consist of the red alga Chondrophycus dotyi (y. Saito) k.w. Nam [= Laurencia dotyi y. Saito], two brown algae Dictyopteris plagio - gramma (Montagne) Vickers and Distromium flabellatum womersley, and the green alga Pseudochlorodesmis parva w. J. gilbert [= Siphonogramen parvum (w.J. gilbert) I.a. abbott & Huisman]. Distromium flabellatum and Pseudochlorodesmis parva were collected in waters between Ni‘ihau and Lehua Islet. The paucity of algal records from Ni‘ihau is not surprising, very few collections have been made along its coastline because of its remoteness and general lack of access. 

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2. The Rhodoexplorer Platform for Red Algal Genomics and Whole-Genome Assemblies for Several Gracilaria Species

   https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evad124  

   Lipinska, Agnieszka P; Krueger-Hadfield, Stacy A; Godfroy, Olivier; Dittami, Simon M; Ayres-Ostrock, Lígia; Bonthond, Guido; Brillet-Guéguen, Loraine; Coelho, Susana; Corre, Erwan; Cossard, Guillaume; et al (July 2023, Genome Biology and Evolution)

   Castric, Vincent (Ed.)

   Abstract Macroalgal (seaweed) genomic resources are generally lacking as compared with other eukaryotic taxa, and this is particularly true in the red algae (Rhodophyta). Understanding red algal genomes is critical to understanding eukaryotic evolution given that red algal genes are spread across eukaryotic lineages from secondary endosymbiosis and red algae diverged early in the Archaeplastids. The Gracilariales is a highly diverse and widely distributed order including species that can serve as ecosystem engineers in intertidal habitats and several notorious introduced species. The genus Gracilaria is cultivated worldwide, in part for its production of agar and other bioactive compounds with downstream pharmaceutical and industrial applications. This genus is also emerging as a model for algal evolutionary ecology. Here, we report new whole-genome assemblies for two species (Gracilaria chilensis and Gracilaria gracilis), a draft genome assembly of Gracilaria caudata, and genome annotation of the previously published Gracilaria vermiculophylla genome. To facilitate accessibility and comparative analysis, we integrated these data in a newly created web-based portal dedicated to red algal genomics (https://rhodoexplorer.sb-roscoff.fr). These genomes will provide a resource for understanding algal biology and, more broadly, eukaryotic evolution. 

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3. Long-term ecological monitoring of reefs on Hawai’i Island (2003-2020): Characterization of a common cryptic crust, Ramicrusta hawaiiensis (Peyssonneliales, Rhodophyta)

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.1009471  

   Grady, Bryant W.; Kittle, Ronald P.; Pugh, Ashley; Lamson, Megan R.; Richards, Joseph L.; Fredericq, Suzanne; McDermid, Karla J.; Allen, Quintin; Asner, Gregory P. (October 2022, Frontiers in Marine Science)

   The recently described crustose calcifying red algal species Ramicrusta hawaiiensis, known only from mesophotic depths off Lehua Island, west of Kaua’i Island, was found in shallow benthic reef habitats (3-18 m deep) along the western coast of Hawai’i Island. Molecular and microscopy techniques were used for genetic confirmation and for detailed morphological and anatomical examination. Two independent benthic cover survey datasets collected from west Hawai’i Island were used to investigate temporal and geographic distribution of Ramicrusta . In both datasets, we report Ramicrusta at approximately 60% of the sites surveyed. Benthic cover for this alga varies among sites and among years and its presence in west Hawai’i is evident since at least 2003. These findings help to document Hawaiian coral reef ecosystem change and benthic community composition reshuffling. This study also emphasizes the critical importance of taxonomy and proper identification of macroalgal species to understand the potential for phase-shifts of dominant taxa in coral reef ecosystems after environmental disturbances and fluctuations in abiotic factors. In the last decade, members of the red algal order Peyssonneliales have increased in abundance and overgrown other benthic species in reef ecosystems in the Caribbean and tropical Pacific. The novel aspect of finding abundant Ramicrusta in much shallower water than originally described, the decadal presence of Ramicrusta , and its potential for competition with other benthic organisms make this research valuable to coral reef ecology and justify further investigation of Ramicrusta ecology and biology in the Hawaiian Islands and globally. 

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4. Biodiversity of Hawaiian Peyssonneliales (Rhodophyta): Sonderophycus copusii sp. nov., a new species from the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4490/algae.2020.35.5.20  

   Sherwood, A.R.; Paiano, M.O.; Spalding, H.L.; Kosaki, R.K. (July 2020, Algae)

   null (Ed.)

   Specimens of red algae corresponding to the peyssonnelioid genus Sonderophycus were collected at Kure Atoll, Hawai‘i, at a depth range of 88-94 m depth during mesophotic surveys of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, Hawaiian Islands, and were analyzed using morphological and molecular approaches. Analyses of mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 and chloroplast rbcL DNA sequences demonstrated that the Hawaiian specimens were identical to one another yet distinct from the three other species currently recognized within the genus (S. capensis [Montagne] M. J. Wynne, S. coriaceus [Womersley & Sinkora] M. J. Wynne, and S. fervens Dixon), as well as the likely congener, Peyssonnelia caulifera Okamura, and are proposed here as a new species: Sonderophycus copusii A. R. Sherwood. Sonderophycus copusii is morphologically distinct from other members of the genus by the following combination of characters: the presence of occasional secondary perithallial growth, emergence of rhizoids from the hypobasal cuticle at a strongly acute angle, a lack of horizontally directed filaments in the lower perithallus, and the lack of a stipe. This is the first record of the genus Sonderophycus in the Hawaiian Islands. Sonderophycus copusii was documented as a dominant member of the algal community at Kure Atoll, and thus may play a significant ecological role in the deep-water benthic community of Kure Atoll, along the lines of reports of deep water peyssonnelioid beds in the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Caribbean. This study further highlights the unexplored diversity of the Peyssonneliales in Hawai‘i, and emphasizes more generally the degree of as yet undiscovered biodiversity of algae at mesophotic depths. 

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5. Red macroalgae in the genomic era

   https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.19211  

   Borg, Michael; Krueger‐Hadfield, Stacy A.; Destombe, Christophe; Collén, Jonas; Lipinska, Agnieszka; Coelho, Susana M. (August 2023, New Phytologist)

   Summary Rhodophyta (or red algae) are a diverse and species‐rich group that forms one of three major lineages in the Archaeplastida, a eukaryotic supergroup whose plastids arose from a single primary endosymbiosis. Red algae are united by several features, such as relatively small intron‐poor genomes and a lack of cytoskeletal structures associated with motility like flagella and centrioles, as well as a highly efficient photosynthetic capacity. Multicellular red algae (or macroalgae) are one of the earliest diverging eukaryotic lineages to have evolved complex multicellularity, yet despite their ecological, evolutionary, and commercial importance, they have remained a largely understudied group of organisms. Considering the increasing availability of red algal genome sequences, we present a broad overview of fundamental aspects of red macroalgal biology and posit on how this is expected to accelerate research in many domains of red algal biology in the coming years. 

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