Lake Baikal, the oldest lake in the world, is home to spectacular biodiversity and extraordinary levels of endemism. While many of the animal species flocks from Lake Baikal are famous examples of evolutionary radiations, the lake also includes a wide diversity of endemic algae that are not well investigated with regards to molecular-biological taxonomy and phylogeny. The endemic taxa of the green algal order Cladophorales show a range of divergent morphologies that led to their classification in four genera in two families. We sequenced partial large- and small-subunit rDNA as well as the internal transcribed spacer region of 14 of the 16 described endemic taxa to clarify their phylogenetic relationships. One endemic morphospecies, Cladophora kusnetzowii, was shown to be conspecific with the widespread Aegagropila linnaei. All other endemic morphospecies formed a monophyletic group nested within the genus Rhizoclonium (Cladophoraceae), a very surprising result, in stark contrast to their morphological affinities. The Baikal clade represents a species flock of closely related taxa with very low genetic differentiation. Some of the morphospecies were congruent with lineages recovered in the phylogenies, but due to the low phylogenetic signal in the rDNA sequences the relationships within the Baikal clade were not all well resolved. The Baikal clade appears to represent a recent radiation, based on the low molecular divergence within the group, and it is hypothesized that the large morphological variation results from diversification in sympatry from a common ancestor in Lake Baikal.

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The role of chitin and its hydrolysis products generated by Vibrio cholerae chitinases in mechanisms of its adaptation in water environments, metabolism, preservation, acquisition of pathogenic potential, and its epidemiological value are reviewed. Chitin utilization by V. cholerae as a source of energy, carbon, and nitrogen is described. Chitin association promotes biofilm formation on natural chitinous surfaces, increasing V. cholerae resistance to adverse factors in ecological niches: the human body and water environments with its inhabitants. Hydrolytic enzymes regulated by the corresponding genes result in complete chitin biodegradation by a chitinolytic catabolic cascade. Consequences of V. cholerae cell and chitin interaction at different hierarchical levels include metabolic and physiological cell reactions such as chemotaxis, cell division, biofilm formation, induction of genetic competence, and commensalic and symbiotic mutual relations with higher organisms, nutrient cycle, pathogenicity for humans, and water organisms that is an example of successful interrelation of bacteria and substratum in the ecology of the microorganism.