Welcome to the Plant Environmental Microbiology Group, Phytoplankton Team！
Our Group focuses on the behavior of phytoplankton in nature.
Algal Bloom, commonly recognized as "Red Tide" in Japan, is caused by the discoloration of water due to the overgrowth of bloom causative algae. Many of these species are no larger than several tens of µm, having chloroplast with carotenoids. When these microscopic algae grow to high density, we notice it with the brownish tint in water. These phenomena have been widely recognized as "red tide" from ancient days.
Despite the recognition, the causes of the algal bloom are not completely understood. For example, high water temperature and/or eutrophication have been correlated with the bloom formation. On the other hand, just by culturing algae with such conditions under the laboratory settings, we do not always observe the rapid propagation of algae. It may imply that there are additional factors that trigger bloom formation in nature.
By what kind of mechanisms algal bloom, or more specifically, aberrant propagation of algae, occurs in nature？ In our group, we adopt a bloom causative species,Heterosigma akashiwo as a model organism to understand the mechanism at molecular and cellular levels.
Interested in Tackling the Mistery of Red Tide？
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