Category Archives: haploid-diploid

Fungi and the quest for old polyploids

Polyploidy, that curious increase in a species’ number of genomes, is now a well recognized force in the evolutionary history of plants and animals. Those extra genomes are often much more than just extra: having a spare genome or four … Continue reading

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What do dolphins, bivalves and algae have in common?

Collaboration as it turns out, between three scientists interested in vertebrates, invertebrates and algae! A few days before we left for Evolution 2016 in Austin, one of my collaborators, Eric Pante, came to Charleston as the final stop in a North American … Continue reading

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Macroalgal miscellany

It’s been a jam-packed week and I’ve found myself at Friday. Grandiose plans for a post continuing the series on clonality (see here and here) did not come to fruition. But, I was saved with a new article that tumbled … Continue reading

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An evolutionary cycle …

Rescan, Lenormand and Roze (2016) recently published new models on the evolution of life cycles in The American Naturalist. Most animals and protists have diploid life cycles in which the haploid stage is reduced to a single-celled gamete. Other organisms, such … Continue reading

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Gracilaria , currywurst and aebleskivers

Another travelogue for a Monday afternoon! Our first official European stop on the Gracilaria vermiculophylla tour was in Germany and Denmark hosted by a colleague without whom we wouldn’t have been able to embark on this adventure! I first met Florian Weinberger … Continue reading

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An Oedipus complex in mosses?

Nannandrous … phyllodioicous … gotta love botanical terms and these will most definitely find their way into this week’s list of favorite words! Both refer to the tiny epiphytic nature of males situated on much larger female shoots. There may be many … Continue reading

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Pre-adapted algal ancestors colonized land

The colonization of land by plants 450 Mya marked a major transition on Earth and was one of the critical events that led to the emergence of extant terrestrial ecosystems. Chief among the challenges the terrestrial environment presented for these … Continue reading

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Best laid plans of algae and academics oft go astray

When you’re stuck in R and feel some procrastination is in order … write another travelogue post! I’ve wanted to spin some yarns about field mishaps. There’s no way we could sample over 45 sites without something going wrong. For our Northeast … Continue reading

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The scent of home

We decided to divide and conquere the west coast of North America in search of more populations of Gracilaria vermiculophylla, as if we didn’t already have enough by Midsummer’s Eve! I headed to my home state – California. I was able to sneak … Continue reading

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What's a Wachapreague?

Heading north to Virginia (and our base of operations at the VIMS Eastern Shore Lab, ESL) was one of the easiest, in terms of travel and packing. Though maybe not the coolest ride around, a minivan doesn’t have 50 lb … Continue reading

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