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National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)

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AGROVOC Keyword: search.filters.agrovoc.phylogenetic analysisGeographic name: search.filters.geographicname.Pacific Ocean

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    Marine macroalgal reference culture collection at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MMARCC): Status and prospects for advancing Philippine phycology
    Santiañez, Wilfred John E.; Guerta, Christian Ace T.; Lastimoso, John Michael L. (Assocation of Systematic Biologists in the Philippines, 2022-11-16)
    Seaweeds research in the Philippines-from studies on their diversity, natural products chemistry, and the utilization of their derivatives-is largely based on spot collections of large and conspicuous components of the seaweed flora found along the coasts. Such efforts are often focused on commercially important seaweeds; thus, most of the smaller and even microscopic seaweeds remain understudied, if not completely overlooked. Consequently, little to none is known on many aspects of the biology, ecology, and even biochemistry of these components of the Philippine seaweed flora. To understand aspects of seaweed biology and serve as a facility for preserving the genetic resources of Philippine seaweeds, we established the Marine Macroalgal Reference Culture Collection at the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute (UP-MMARCC). We are currently maintaining 446 seaweed strains (or isolates) collected from several coastal and offshore areas in the Philippines, the latter including the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea, and 25 isolates from Okinawa, Japan. To our knowledge, the UP-MMARCC is the most diverse and widely sampled culture collection in the Philippines so far. Moreover, our preliminary molecular-assisted biodiversity studies suggest that UP-MMARCC houses several isolates that are either new records to the Philippines or putative new taxa. We anticipate that with continued support, we will be able to sustain and expand our culture collection, not only to facilitate discoveries but also to cater to the needs of the Philippine seaweed industry and in support of its call for diversifying our seaweed commodities and their products.
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    Two hidden mtDNA-clades of crown-of-thorns starfish in the Pacific Ocean
    Yasuda, Nina; Inoue, Jun; Hall, Michael R.; Nair, Manoj R.; Adjeroud, Mehdi; Fortes, Miguel D.; Nishida, Mutsumi; Tuivavalagi, Nat; Ravago-Gotanco, Rachel; Forsman, Zac H.; Soliman, Taha; Koyanagi, Ryo; Hisata, Kanako; Motti, Cherie A.; Satoh, Noriyuki (Frontiers Media SA, 2022-04-27)
    Recurring outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) severely damage healthy corals, especially in the Western Pacific Ocean. To obtain a better understanding of population genetics of COTS and historical colonization across the Pacific Ocean, complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced from 243 individuals collected in 11 reef regions. Our results indicate that Pacific COTS (Acanthaster cf. solaris) comprise two major clades, an East-Central Pacific (ECP) clade and a Pan-Pacific (PP) clade, separation of which was supported by high bootstrap value. The ECP clade consists of COTS from French Polynesia, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Hawaii population is unique within this clade, while California COTS are included in EPC clade. On the other hand, the PP clade comprises multiple lineages that contain COTS from Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, GBR, Vanuatu, Fiji and French Polynesia. For example, a lineage of the PP clade, which has the largest geographic distribution, includes COTS from all of these locations. These results suggest two alternative histories of current geographic distributions of COTS in the Pacific Ocean, an ECP clade ancestry or Western Pacific clade ancestry. Although further questions remain to be explored, this discovery provides an evolutionary context for the interpretation of COTS population structure which will aid future coral reef research in the Pacific Ocean, and ultimately improve reef management of COTS.
    We thank the following people for their help with sample collection: Dr. Hugh Sweatman and the AIMS Bioresources Library for GBR samples, Dr. Molly Timmers for Hawaiian samples, Geoff Jones and Jeff Kinch for Papua New Guinean samples, Monal Lal for Fijian samples, Christina Shaw for Vanuatu samples, Hoang Dinh Chieu for Vietnamese samples, and Hiromitsu Ueno for Japanese samples. The DNA Sequencing Section and IT section of OIST are acknowledged for its expert help with genome sequencing and bioinfomatic analysis. Last, but not least, we acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and sea country on which this research took place.