Sylvia Söhner

From EESwiki

Molecular phylogeny of calcerous dinoflagellates

The focus of my PhD thesis is the molecular phylogeny of dinoflagellates. Such unicellular algae are a well-supported monophyletic taxon within the Alveolata based both on morphological and molecular data, with more than 2,000 extant species in about 125 genera. Being primary producers makes dinoflagellates an important part of the global ecosystem. Some species are endosymbionts of marine animals and protozoa, forming coral reefs. Other dinoflagellates are predators on other protozoa, and a few forms are parasitic. I am particularly interested in calcerous dinoflagellates based on a multigene analysis. My group is also interested in collecting species that are primarily known from the fossil record. Such “living fossils” have been found extant in sediment samples, but have not been brought into culture for further morphological and molecular studies yet.

Supervisor: Marc Gottschling