Algae Taxonomy - Applied Phycology

Athena ECONOMOU-AMILLI, leader of the AlReCu (Algae Research and Culture) - Group, is involved with the following research fields on algae:

- Floristic studies of the poorly known microflora (mainly recent and fossil algae) from various aquatic habitats (lakes, rivers, thermal springs, lagoons, caves, soil and marine environment) of Greece and occasionally other geographic areas.

- Taxonomic studies on algae in fresh material or cultures by means of the recently applied polyphasic approach - including morphological (LM, SEM) and molecular data - for testing diagnostic features and traits, and for solving taxonomic and phylogenetic problems.

- Maintenance of microalgae in a strain bank housed in the Department of Ecology & Systematics Link. The algae strains can also be used for Applied Phycology Research including marine and freshwater aquaculture, basically by applying biological knowledge in an appropriate technological context (e.g. algal lipid biochemistry, natural products, biofuel).

Research Interests in Hydrobiology

The above research activities serve as a background for further ecological studies of inland and marine waters.

Research is mainly focused on the hydrobiological surveillance of some Greek lakes and rivers (mainly the lake-district of Aetoloakarnania, also isolated lakes, rivers and lagoons of Sterea Hellas and Epirus, recently of Thessalia and Macedonia).

Aim of the study is the evaluation of the structure of aquatic ecosystems on the basis of physico-chemical and biological data. Emphasis is given on the: a) quantitative and qualitative analysis of phytoplankton and periphyton, b) assessment of the heterotrophic role of bacteria and of the primary productivity, c) classification of the limnosaprobic lake and/or river status applying biological indices, d) palaeo-ecological evaluation of fossil algal remains for lake water management.

This research is conducted in interdisciplinary cooperation with many European Institutes and other scientific centers abroad for reasons of comparative hydrobiology.

Infrastructure - Lab

Τhe AlReCu-Group Lab is equipped with all necessary instruments for supporting the above mentioned projects on basic and applied research:

• devices for algae collection,

• analytical devices for biomass chemical and biochemical analyses,

• room facilities for keeping pure strain lines and maintenance of mass algae cultures,

• cultivation and laminar flow cabinets,

• photo-bioreactors,

• strain bank rooms,

also

• light microscopes with digital imaging system and Nomarsky modules,

• high quality inverted microscopes, and a scanning electron microscope with critical point apparatus and gold-coater. (Link)

An extended personal library of monographs and expert publications with more than 30,000 books and reprints is also available covering specific needs of algae taxonomy and ecology.