Research Brief: Studying seaweed along Acadia's coast

Dr. Susan Brawley combs the coastline for a variety of seaweed species.

S. Schmitt, Schoodic Institute

Dr. Susan H. Brawley, Professor, School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME

The protected rocky shores of Acadia National Park harbor a diverse and thriving community of marine algae that can tell us something about the evolution and future of life on Earth.

Our previous studies of marine algae (“seaweed”) from Acadia National Park established that the red alga Porphyra umbilicalis (“laver”) lacks many of the “motor proteins” found in the cells of other species. Which raises the question, how do these red algae manage typical biological processes that require movement, such as spore dispersal and cell division?

Porphyra is related to another red alga found in Acadia, Bangia, and its ancient ancestor Bangiomorpha, one of the oldest fossils known on Earth, formed in rocks in Arctic Canada more than one billion years ago. Studying how key cellular processes can occur in Porphyra with its relatively small number of cytoskeletal elements can help tell us more about these organisms from a long-ago sea.

About twice per month, I collect a small number of Porphyra blades in the high and mid-intertidal zone at Schoodic Point. But most of my work is in the laboratory. I use the spores of collected algae to grow new Porphyra germlings, and study their cellular structure and DNA to learn more about how Porphyra and other marine algae grow and survive.