Didymosphenia

Didymosphenia geminate, commonly called “didymo”, normally grows inconspicuously with other benthic algae on stream rocks, but recently didymo has occurred as prolific thick algal mats (referred to as “didymo blooms”). Basic biological, ecological, and evolutionary knowledge is lacking for didymo because it was a rare alga, and blooms rarely attained levels of biomass more recently observed. Researchers at Leetown Science Center are sequencing the first ever D. geminata shotgun metagenome with the goal of understanding the didymo mat community, as well as the presence of genes with important roles in nutrient cycling and other bio-geochemical processes.