ACUF

This a page of ACUF algal collection.

The algal collection (ACUF) at the Dipartimento di Biologia, Università Federico II of Naples, Italy, is represented by over 700 microalgal strains belonging to Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, Rhodophyta and Bacillariophyceae.

01/01/2021

Happy New Year from dancing Chlamy!
(C.pitschmannii ,isolated from Pisciarelli (Italy) hot spring soils, at pH 1.5)

23/12/2020

Cyanidium chilense Schwabe (Cyanidiophytina, Rhodophyta) grows on the walls of caves, at very low sunlight irradiation and high values of air humidity, but far from any source of liquid water.

20/12/2020

Sulphur mines are widespread in Sicily. Sulphur acid originated by the oxidation of sulfur particles covering the roof of Gill ovens causes pH values close to 0. Typical species of these habitat is Galdieria sulphuraria (Cyanidiophytina, Rhodophyta)

14/12/2020

The hot springs of Campi Flegrei Caldera (Naples, Italy). The blue-green mats are formed by members of Cyanidiophytina (Rhodophyta). A member of this group, Cyanidium caldarium, can thrive under a pure CO2 atmosphere! (https://www.nature.com/articles/227744a0.pdf?origin=ppub)

27/07/2018

ACUF collection will be back on social in September with amazing news!
More pics, new stories and other facts about algae! ..for the time being, enjoy your summer holidays and recharge for a new exciting academic year ;) :p

If you wanna help our team and community, please share the contents with your friends!

Also check our Instagram gallery acuf_collection and our website www.acuf.net!

In the picture, the travel journal of prof. Roberto Taddei, 1976.

20/07/2018

A nice place to sample extremophilic microalgae: Valle d'Ansanto (AV, Italy).

"Mefite d'Ansanto, southern Apennines, Italy is the largest natural emission of low temperature CO2 rich gases, from non-volcanic environment, ever measured in the Earth. The emission is fed by a buried reservoir, made up of permeable limestones and covered by clayey sediments." (Chiodini et al., 2010)

These places were named after the ancient Italic goddess Mefitis, venerated by Hirpini and Latins, whose heritage has also bene dugin the area.

The little lake in the center (see the story!) is formed by a pool of water, about 2 metres (7 ft) deep, that boils as a result of the gas emissions of the subsoil, consisting primarily of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid. As carbon dioxide is heavier than the air, it accumulates near the ground, where the concentration increases and due to its greater affinity for haemoglobin it may also be lethal; for this reason the surrounding area is free of animals and vegetation.

13/07/2018

Fischerella ambigua is a branching blue‐green alga belonging to the class of Cyanophyceaen, order Nostocales. Its filamentous nature is maintained almost entirely by the sheath material. Cell division in this microrganism most closely resembles the septal division found in most unicellular organisms. The plasma membrane and the inner wall layer invaginate to produce initially 2 cells. However, the middle wall layer, outer wall layer, and sheath also invaginate to separate the daughter cells. The sheath alone remains continuous throughout the length of the filament. From Fischerella were isolated five new antibacterial ambiguine K−O isonitriles (1−5) and eight indole alkaloids, assessed as important for their antibacterial activities against a series of bacterial targets, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Bacillus anthracis.

E. Laurence Thurston.
Shunyan Mo, 2009.
Nikon Eclipse E800, 100x magnification.

06/07/2018

Chroococcidiopsis belongs to the cyanobacteria class Chroococcidiopsidaceae. Its cells are spherical, rarely solitary, sometimes in free-living irregular agglomerations or forming less spherical colonies.This cyanobacteria is interesting ecologically for its resistance to low temperature, low moisture and alkaline or hypersaline tolerance in swamps. For its resistence, has been thought as an organism capable of living on Mars. Cyanobacteria such as Chroococcidiopsis could aid in the formation of soil and an aerobic environment on Mars. The soil and oxygen produced by Chroococcidiopsis could provide the conditions necessary for human civilizations on Mars without altering the characteristics of atmosphere on the Martian surface.
Nikon Eclipse E800, 100x magnification.
Greening of the Red Planet". NASA. Retrieved 2011-03-14.

29/06/2018

La Russa - AlgaSpring
Cari colleghi! in concomitanza con la AlgaEurope conference che si terrà ad Amsterdam dal 4 al 6 dicembre, l'azienda AlgaSpring offre a tutti gli studenti dell'ACUF che parteciperanno alla conferenza una visita guidata presso i loro impianti! Per info lasciate un commento o contattatemi in privato.
Per tutti i dettagli sulla conferenza:

29/06/2018

Interfilum paradoxum (Chlorophyta) belongs to the green algal class Ulvophyceae. Many report suggest a wide distribution in various terrestrial habitats, indicating probably a worldwide distribution similar to the closely related Klebsormidium. Interfilum represents an important phototrophic component of biological soil crusts, producing a joint matrix by gluing soil particles to themselves. Such microbiotic crusts exert a dominating influence on global carbon fixation and nitrogen fixation, along with other ecological functions such as mineralization, water retention, stabilization of soils, and dust trapping. This species forms unicells, dyads, packets, cubic aggregates, with cells surrounded by bipartite cell walls, dividing by vegetative cell division, forming chains of cells connected by ‘threads’ of mucilaginous nature, revealed by light microscopy and methylene blue staining. Cells has one parietal chloroplast and a central pyrenoid surrounded by several or many starch grains. Some studies reveals that these organisms can be a potential source of natural antioxidants, that may be applied in the field of human nutrition.
Mikhailyuk et al., 2014. Morphology and ultrastructure of Interfilum and Klebsormidium (Klebsormidiales, Streptophyta) with special reference to cell division and thallus formation.
Interfilum paradoxum, DIC; epifluorescence; methylene-blu stained; brightfield.
Nikon Eclipse E800, 100x magnification;

22/06/2018

Picocystis salinarum is a unique
chlorophyte with a separate phylogenetic lineage within the prasinophytes. It can grow under a wide range of environmental conditions such as alkaline and hypersaline, and can survive drastic changes in growth conditions, such as low light and oxygen availability. Picocystis is characterized by an exclusive set of pigments with unusual carotenoid pattern. The cell were oval and spherical, and it have a trilobate morphology, two lateral lobes contain the chloroplast,and the third lobe contain the nucleus. Picocystis salinarum is an highly productive primary producer in food webs of saline habitats, and it play a key role in food webs of
freshwater, marine and saline habitats.

Krienitz et al., 2012. Picocystis salinarum (Chlorophyta) in saline lakes and hot springs of East Africa.

Picocystis salinarum, Nikon Eclipse E800, 100x magnification

15/06/2018

Tetraselmis chuii
Butcher is a micro alga belonging to the class of Chlorodendrophyceae, order Chlorodendralesa. It is a green four-flagellated prasinophyte characterized by an ovoid body shape and a distinct curved body when
viewed side ways. This microrganism measures 12-14µm in length,9-10µm in width and presents the pyrenoid embedded in the single chloroplast, which occupies most of the volume of the cell, especially
near its proximal end. Tetraselmis chuii Butcher is one of the species of microalgae that is most extensively used in aquaculture and
is considered to be an optimal source of long-chain PUFAs, and especially of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA).

Mehdi Mohammadi, 2015

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