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Cracking the Code

MIT/WHOI Joint Program student Louie Wurch carries tubes containing cultures of Aureococcus anophagefferens, which has been responsible for brown tides along heavily populated coastlines of the eastern U.S. and South Africa. In the first genome sequencing of a harmful algal bloom species, researchers found that Aureococcus’ unique gene complement allows it to outcompete other marine phytoplankton and thrive in human-modified ecosystems, which could help explain the global increases in harmful algal blooms.(Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)