Algae and their symbiosis

Algae, and bacteria co-cultures

Some time ago we teamed up with the amazing Alison Smith and developed some mathematical modelling for a system that her lab had developed as a model for algae and bacteria in a symbiotic relationship. In this case it was an exchange of Vitamin B12, versus fixed carbon. The experiments were in batch cultures, well mixed. A mathematical model based on logistic growth for each species, but with a carrying capacity which was a function of the other species, described very well the population dynamics of both species. [M.A.A. Grant, et al., ISME J. 8, 1418-1427 2014]
Since then, thanks to various final year students, MPhils and visitors, we have developed various platforms to image algae, and recently this has led to a couple of very nice papers led by Sing Teng Chua, particularly a study of Chlamydomonas in micro colonies, with systematic segmentation at the level of single cells. [S.T. Chua, et al., ISME Communications, in press 2025]

Algae and corals, and models

This is a new area. We have dipped our toes collaborating with Ellen Nisbet in Nottingham on algae/anemone symbiosis, imaging the stability of the interaction against chemical and temperature perturbations. This is a nice lab system and in some ways a model of coral/algae symbiosis. We are actively seeking to develop this area, and there are a number of great colleagues also in Cambridge that we hope to work with.

© 2019 BSS last updated December 2019