Characterization of Parmales using first ever culture : an insight into the origin of diatoms

硅藻是现代海洋中最成功的浮游植物群。由于硅藻的起源尚未得到明确的确定，帕尔马藻可能在回答这个问题方面发挥关键作用。然而，由于缺乏实验室调查，我们对这种藻类的生物学信息仍然很少。最近，我们分离出了第一个帕尔马的培养物。为了探索帕尔马与硅藻的进化联系，我们通过培养实验和野外实验对帕尔马的生长特征、系统发育、硅细胞壁形成和生命周期进行了研究。

Parmales has been proposed as a close relative of diatoms, which are the most successful phytoplankton group in modern oceans. Because the origin of diatoms has not yet been clearly established, Parmales may play a key role in answering this question. However, we still have very little biological information on this alga, due to lack of laboratory investigations. Recently, we isolated the first ever culture of Parmales. To explore the evolutionary link between Parmales and diatoms, we investigated the growth characteristics, phylogeny, formation of silica cell wall and life cycle of Parmales by culture experiments and field experiments.