Research interests
My principal research interests are in Phycology. My research program is focused on the molecular systematics, phylogeny and biodiversity of algae. My current specific projects are targeting the subaerial microchlorophytes from tropical regions, green algal evolution, and seaweeds from the Gulf of Mexico.
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GREEN ALGAL EVOLUTION AND THE SUBAERIAL MICROCHLOROPHYTES FROM TROPICAL RAINFORESTS.
Our laboratory has been investigating the systematics and phylogeny of the
order Trentepohliales and other subaerial microchlorophytes (Chlorophyta)
from tropical and subtropical regions. Molecular systematics and phylogenetic
analyses along with morphology-based classification hypotheses have been our
tools to unravel biological and evolutionary trends. Gene sequencing techniques
and computerized data analyses of nuclear and plastid genes as well as ultrastructure
have been used in this research. My particular interest in the Trentepohliales
is centered in the phylogenetic relationships of this order within the green
algae as a whole, in which I have been able to document the phylogenetic position
of this order inside of the Ulvophyceae rather than the Charophycean algae.
At the present time we are investigating the phylogenetic relationships inside
this order. My preliminary data point out that the present definition of genera
is more complex than previously thought and challenges the present taxonomic
arrangement. My longterm aim in this topic is a world-wide molecular systematics
study of this subaerial order. Klebsormidiales is another subaerial group
that has been the target of our research program. We are investigating the
taxonomy and systematics of Klebsormidium by a combination of morphological
studies and sequencing of the rbcL gene. Our results so far indicate that
a great deal of genetic diversity is hidden behind the simple morphology of
this genus, and that the current concepts of several common species will probably
need to be reassessed.
ALGAL DIVERSITY
Biodiversity surveys are also part of our current interest, in particular
from tropical rainforest and the Gulf of Mexico. Over the last years we have
been working and collecting subaerial algae in the rainforests of French Guiana,
Panama, and Africa. Our surveys have revealed the presence of numerous taxa
in these rainforests. Several of these are being described as new species.
A comparison with the few tropical regions for which reliable data are available
is showing that our floristic account must be considered a very high figure.
We have concluded that French Guiana, for example, is a biodiversity hotspot
for the subaerial algae! The algal biodiversity of the Gulf of Mexico has
been my particular interest for several decades. I am currently studying the
benthic marine algae from Alabama (North Central Gulf of Mexico) in order
to develop a digital database of seaweeds. Another project focused on the
biodiversity and biotechnological potential of marine algae from the Oil and
Gas Platforms. More than 3,500 oil and gas platforms in the northern Gulf
of Mexico provide habitats that may harbor marine organisms with pharmaceutical
or other commercial uses. Subsequent research should help us reach some conclusions
about the environmental risks of extracting marine organisms from their steel
reefs and address whether sustainable harvesting is possible without disrupting
biodiversity and damaging these newly created ecosystems.
MOLECULAR SYSTEMATICS OF RED ALGAE (RHODOPHYTA).
My current rhodophytan molecular systematics research involves a worldwide
group of collaborators and has been recently expanded to include several red
algal groups, such as particular families in the Orders Gigartinales and Ceramiales,
the most diversified and species-rich groups of the Rhodophyta. I am focusing
on the use of the chloroplast-encoded rbcL (large subunit of RUBISCO), the
nuclear LSU (large subunit ribosomal DNA) and ITS (internal transcribed spacer
of ribosomal DNA), as well as detailed comparative morphological data to generate
phylogenies in order to test classical taxonomic approaches to the taxonomy
of the red algae. My research also will promote the integration of molecular-and-morphology-based
phylogenies with biogeographic hypotheses.
Selected publications
Rindi, F., Guiry, M. D. and J. Lopez-Bautista. 2008. Distribution, morphology and phylogeny of Klebsormidium (Klebsormidiales, Charophyta) in urban environments in Europe. Journal of Phycology, submitted.
Rindi, F. and J. Lopez-Bautista. 2008. Diversity and ecology of Trentepohliales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) in French Guiana. Cryptogamie Algologie, Accepted.
Lopez-Bautista, J., Rindi, F. and D. Casamatta. 2007. The Systematics of Subaerial Algae. In: Seckbach, J. (Ed.) Extremophilic Algae, Cyanobacteria and Non-Photosynthetic Protists: From Prokaryotes to Astrobiology, Series: Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, Volume 11, Springer, pp. 599-617.
Rindi, F. and J. Lopez-Bautista. 2007. New and interesting records of Trentepohlia (Trentepohliales, Chlorophyta) from French Guiana, including the description of two new species. Phycologia 46(6):698-708
Gurgel, F. and J. Lopez-Bautista. 2007. Red Algae. In: Encyclopedia of Life Sciences. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester http://www.els.net/[DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0000335]
Zuccarello G.C. & Lopez-Bautista J.M. 2007. Trentepohliophyceae. In: Algae of Australia: Introduction. Algae of Australia Series. Australian Biological Resources Study/CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Australia. pp. 351-352.
Lopez-Bautista, J., Rindi, F. and M. Guiry. 2006. Molecular Systematics of the subearial green algal order Trentepohliales: an assessment based on morphological and molecular data. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 56:1709-1715.
Lopez-Bautista, J., Kapraun, D. and R. L. Chapman. 2006. Nucelar DNA content estimates in the Trentepohliales (Chlorophyta): Phylogenetic considerations. Algological Studies 120:In Press.
Rindi, F., Guiry, M. and J. Lopez-Bautista. 2006. New records of Trentepohliales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) from Africa. Nova Hedwigia 83(3-4):In Press.
Rindi, F., Lopez-Bautista, J., Sherwood, A. and M. Guiry. 2006. Morphology and phylogenetic position of Spongiochrysis hawaiiensis gen et sp. nov., the first known terrestrial member of the Cladophorales (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 56:913-922
Hommersand, M. H., Freshwater, W., Lopez-Bautista, J. and S. Fredericq. 2006. Proposal of the Euptiloteae Hommersand and Fredericq, Trib. Nov. and transfer of some southern hemisphere Ptiloteae to the Callithamnieae (Ceramiaceae, Rhodophyta). Journal of Phycology 42:203-225.
Lopez-Bautista, J., Waters, D. A., Fredericq, S. and R. L. Chapman. 2004. Marine algae from the Oil/Gas Platforms in the Northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Proceedings: Twenty-Second Annual Gulf of Mexico Information Transfer Meeting, January 2003 (Release January 2004) OCS Study MMS 2003-073:381-385.
López-Bautista, J. and R. L. Chapman. 2003. Phylogenetic affinities of the Trentepohliales inferred form small subunit ribosomal DNA. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53:2099-2106.
López-Bautista, J. M., Waters, D. and R. L. Chapman. 2003. Phragmoplastin, green algae, and the evolution of cytokinesis. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 53:1715-1718.
Fredericq, S., Anderson, R.J., and J. M. López-Bautista. 2002. Systematic circumscription of some Phyllophoraceae (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) from the Cape region, South Africa, based on molecular evidence. Proceedings of the XVIIth International Seaweed Symposium, pp. 263-274, Oxford University Press.
López-Bautista, J. M., Waters, D. and R. L. Chapman. 2002. The Trentepohliales Revisited. Constancea 83, the online continuation of University of California Publications in Botany (1902-2002) (special Festschrift to honor P.C. Silva. (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/constancea/83 issued December 2002).
Fredericq, S. and J. M. López-Bautista. 2002. Characterization and phylogenetic position of the red alga Besa papillaeformis. Constancea 83, the online continuation of University of California Publications in Botany (1902-2002) (special Festschrift to honor P.C. Silva. (http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/constancea/83 issued December 2002).
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