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Diversity Biology and Evolution Lab
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A taxonomy lab that collects seaweeds and tells species apart by their form, DNA, and chemical constituents.
AboutAbout the lab
Telling seaweeds apart, one species at a time.
This lab studies the systematics of seaweeds at the Hokkaido University Museum.
Focusing on the red algal genus Laurencia and its close relatives, it distinguishes species using molecular phylogeny, culture experiments, and chemical constituents in addition to morphological features.
The lab also studies the seaweed flora of the northwestern Pacific, from Southeast Asia through Japan to the Russian Far East.
The museum holds many seaweed specimens collected from several decades to more than a century ago, and these are also used in collaborative research in fields other than taxonomy.
Key terms
- Systematics
- The study of organizing species and groups based on how closely related organisms are (their phylogeny).
- Red algae
- A group of seaweeds with red pigments. Gelidium (tengusa) and nori also belong to this group.
- Intraspecific differentiation
- The process by which populations within the same species diverge in their characteristics.
ResearchResearch themes
The lab advances the systematics of seaweeds, especially the red algal genus Laurencia and its close relatives. By combining morphology, molecular phylogeny, culture experiments, and chemical constituents, it examines how species group together and how they diverge.
*Illustrative imageClassification and chemistry of the red algal genus Laurencia
Targeting Laurencia in the broad sense, the lab advances systematics using morphological features together with molecular phylogeny, culture experiments, and chemotaxonomy. It has also studied the population structure behind intraspecific differentiation in Urasozo, using molecular phylogenetic methods.
*Illustrative imageClassification of northern kelps
In joint research with the museum's collections division, the lab uses material collected on Sakhalin, in Kamchatka, and in Japan to advance systematic studies of northern kelps.
*Illustrative imageSeaweed flora of the northwestern Pacific
Beyond Laurencia and kelps, the lab studies the seaweed flora of the northwestern Pacific, from Southeast Asia through Japan to the Russian Far East.
*Illustrative imageCold adaptation and speciation in the Sea of Japan
The lab is testing, through collaborative research, whether seaweeds also fit the "Sea of Japan diversification factory" hypothesis: that cold adaptation and speciation occurred in sea areas isolated during glacial periods, and that species then expanded northward in the following interglacial period.
MembersFaculty
- Associate ProfessorTsuyoshi Abe
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Laminaria kelp on top of the pinnacle at 13th Apostle PA031640” Peter Southwood / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Classification and chemistry of the red algal genus Laurencia: “Laurencia” Eric Guinther / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Classification of northern kelps: “Dasima 2” freddy an / CC0 (cropped)
- Seaweed flora of the northwestern Pacific: “Sargassum natans (brown algae) (San Salvador Island, Bahamas) )” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Cold adaptation and speciation in the Sea of Japan: “Japan's Chūbu region coast on the Sea of Japan (iss073e0379903)” NASA Johnson Space Center / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Diversity Biology Ia Lab): “Micrura verrilli” Marlin Harms / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cell Culture Engineering Lab (Muroran Marine Station)): “CSIRO ScienceImage 905 Undaria pinnatifida Japanese kelp” division, CSIRO / CC BY 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Diversity Biology II Lab: Algae and Extant Organism Diversity Research): “Volvox Aureus 400x” Massimo brizzi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Hokkaido University Field Ornithology Lab): “Otus elegans from iNaturalist photo” WeitingLiu (weitingliu) / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
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