Expedition on board RV “G. Titov”, 10-16 August, 2018

The expedition was carried out within the framework of collaboration with Saint-Petersburg State University on board RV “G. Titov”, 10-16 August, 2018.

The expedition was aimed at search for new species of unicellular fungi and closely related protists in the coastal near-bottom layer of Lake Baikal and a number of neighbouring lakes to clarify the origin of fungi. In this regard, Opistosporidia and Chytridiomycetes were the most interesting.

Three representarives of Saint-Petersburg State University participated in the expedition. They isolated the cultures of the required parasitic protists on board RV. Further, these cultures will be used for studying the phylogenetic connections and ultrastructure of protists, as well as reconstruction of genomes in species of greatest evolutionary interest. In total, 58 samples were collected. They contained various benthic algae (potential hosts of unicellular fungi). There were also 15 collected samples of plankton (fraction 10 – 150 μm).