Brazilian researchers discover new species of green microalga

In Brazil, researchers affiliated with the Phycology Laboratory at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of São Paulo have discovered a new species of green microalga in a reservoir located in the northwest of the state. As a result of the discovery, microalgae of the genus Nephrocytium have been moved to an order belonging to a different taxonomic class and phylogenetically reclassified (placed in a new family). 

The new species was found in a fishing pond called Muritiba, fed by a spring near the town of Tupã. The species was isolated in 2014 and is now part of UFSCar’s Freshwater Microalgae Culture Collection (CCMA). Begun in 1977 by Armando Augusto Henriques Vieira early in his career as a professor in the Department of Botany, CCMA is one of the world’s largest and oldest collections of freshwater microalgae, with some 800 strains deposited and conserved for researchers to analyze and potentially commercialize.

The new species was named Nephrocytium vieirae as a tribute to Vieira, who has retired and is now a senior professor at the university. 

The study involved samples collected at more than 300 sites including reservoirs, marches, bogs and lakes in all 22 hydrographic regions of the state. After collection by various scientists under Vieira’s supervision, the material was isolated in the laboratory and identified on the basis of morphology. During this process, a particular alga was isolated and identified as a morphotype similar to Nephrocytium. In taxonomy, a morphotype is an individual or set of organisms distinguished within the same species by having a certain physical structure.