Getting a New Take on Life – From "Pond Scum" 
Algal research wins Fredericton professor prestigious Canadian science
prize
Ottawa, Ontario, March 20, 2003 – Life evolves
from simple organisms to more complex ones. Right? Wrong, says University
of New Brunswick biologist Gary Saunders.
And his painstaking evolutionary research into a group of poorly understood
marine organisms, the red
algae, is helping reinforce this point.
It is forefront work that today resulted in Dr. Saunders being named
winner of a Steacie Fellowship – a top Canadian science and engineering
honour from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada (NSERC).
"There's this view that a lot of people have, and remarkably
a lot of biologists seem stuck with it, that evolution always goes
from simple to complex. That's not always the case. What we've found,
contrary to previous thinking, is that some of the simplest red algae
are some of the most recently evolved ones. So at one level we're turning
our understanding of algal evolution upside down," says Dr. Saunders,
one of Canada's few researchers in the taxonomy and systematics of
algae.
The NSERC Steacie award to Dr. Saunders is among six announced
today by Allan Rock, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible
for NSERC,
Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary
of State for Science, Research and Development, and Dr. Tom Brzustowski,
President of NSERC. It’s the second Steacie award to a University
of New Brunswick professor since 2000.
“NSERC Steacie Fellows are blazing trails for themselves and
for Canada on the international research scene,” said Minister
Rock. “They are leading Canada towards its goal of becoming one
of the top five countries in the world for research and development.”
“These awards are public recognition for outstanding scientific
achievement,” said Minister Pagtakhan. “Indeed this is
Canada’s way of saying ‘thank you’ and giving outstanding
scientists and engineers the opportunity and resources to bring their
ideas to a new level of excellence.”
"I would say that the average person doesn't get through the
day without red algae as part of their life," says Dr. Saunders,
who has travelled to shorelines from British Columbia to Australia
and Chile in search of new algal species.
Red algae (Rhodophyta) range from microscopic single-celled creatures
to large algae, such as Irish Moss. They are found worldwide in marine
tidal zones, and there are as many as 7,000 species in total.
The polysaccharides found in red algae are used to produce the emulsifiers
and thickeners in products ranging from ice cream to cosmetics. Nori,
the wrap used in making sushi rolls, is also a red alga.
Dr. Saunders' research of the past decade has pioneered the use of
new genetic analyses to reinterpret the evolutionary history and familial
relationships of red algae, and several other algal groups.
In the past, mapping the red algal family tree has been stymied by
two facts: these marine creatures are anatomically simple, so there
are few features for comparison; and they generally don't fossilize,
so there's almost no fossil record. So, early 20th century
researchers turned to the diverse and cryptic reproductive strategies
in these
algae to classify them into biological groupings.
According to Dr. Saunders, holder of the Canada Research Chair in
Molecular Systematics and Biodiversity at the University of New Brunswick,
the absence of clear, defining, physical features and the prevailing
notion that these marine creatures were "simple" led to an
underclassification of
their diversity.
"I think a lot of this goes back to Linnaeus and beyond – the
idea that algae are pond scum, that they're not that interesting, they're
not that important, there's not that much diversity there," says
Dr. Saunders. "What we're finding is that some of these previous
groupings are in fact a hodgepodge of very different sorts of lineages."
While an NSERC Steacie Fellow, Dr. Saunders will be looking for new
genetic markers to "plug holes" in his ongoing gene-based
reassessment of red algal relationships. The research is important
in the search for new economically valuable red algae, he says. It
provides information on which species of red algae are most closely
related, and thus most likely to have similar properties.
The Steacie research will also make the link between the genetics
of red algae and the algae’s "bizarre" range of reproductive
strategies, research that could further challenge commonly held notions
about evolution.
"The animals and land plants are two little bumps on the tree
of life from a planetary biodiversity perspective," notes Dr. Saunders. "I
think a lot of our ideas on how evolution has shaped life may change
when we look further at red algae."
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Gary Saunders
University of New Brunswick
E-mail: gws@unb.ca
Arnet Sheppard
Manager, Newsbureau
Communications
NSERC
Telephone: (613) 995-5997
E-mail: axs@nserc.ca
The Prize
NSERC Steacie Fellowships are awarded to the most outstanding Canadian
university scientists or engineers, who have earned their doctorate
within the last twelve years. Nominations are received by NSERC from
universities across Canada and the international impact of the individual’s
work is judged by a distinguished panel of independent experts. The
award includes increased research funding from NSERC and a payment
to the university to allow the individual to pursue his or her research
full-time. The winning Steacie Fellows are also eligible to compete
for a special Canada Foundation for Innovation Career Award. The announcement
of these awards will be made later.
The six winners this year are:
Dr. Gary Saunders (University
of New Brunswick)
Dr. Victoria Kaspi (McGill
University)
Dr. Zongchao Jia (Queen’s
University)
Dr. Molly Shoichet (University
of Toronto)
Dr. Kim Vicente (University
of Toronto)
Dr. Michel Gingras (University
of Waterloo)
Canada’s Innovation Strategy
Last year, the Government of Canada launched Canada’s Innovation
Strategy, two papers that lay out a plan to address skills and innovation
challenges for the next decade. The paper released by Minister Rock
is entitled Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge
and Opportunity. It proposes goals, targets and priorities for Canada over
the next decade to: create knowledge and bring ideas to market more
quickly; ensure a skilled workforce in the new economy; modernize business
and regulatory policies while protecting the public interest; and strengthen
communities by supporting innovation at the local level. Today’s
announcement supports this strategy.
For more information about Canada’s Innovation Strategy or to
obtain a copy of either Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning
for Canadians or Achieving Excellence: Investing in People,
Knowledge and Opportunity, please call 1-800-O CANADA
(1-800-622-6232) or visit http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca.
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