Professor Denis Tikhonenkov from the Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters at the Russian Academy of Sciences visited IHB on May 23, 2024. (Credit: IHB)

On May 23rd, 2024, Professor Denis Tikhonenkov from the Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters at the Russian Academy of Sciences visited the Institute of Hydrobiology (IHB) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for an academic exchange. During his visit, he delivered a lecture titled "The Eukaryotic Tree of Life and the Evolutionary and Ecological Significance of New Lineages of Predatory Protists" to researchers and graduate students. 

In his lecture, Professor Tikhonenkov discussed the eukaryotic tree of life and the evolutionary and ecological significance of newly identified lineages of predatory protists. He highlighted the early evolutionary stages of the supergroups Opisthokonta and Archaeplastida, shedding light on the unique cellular and genomic developments that led to the emergence of multicellularity and photosynthesis. 

Additionally, Professor Tikhonenkov emphasized the importance of studying eukaryotic diversity for discovering rare but evolutionarily and ecologically significant organisms. The lecture sparked considerable interest among the attendees, leading to in-depth discussions with Professor Tikhonenkov on related topics. 

During his visit, Professor Tikhonenkov also discussed the progress of a Sino-Russian international collaboration project with his Chinese counterparts. This project, funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, is part of the International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Program. The project is led by IHB Professor GONG Yingchun on the Chinese side and by Professor Denis Tikhonenkov on the Russian side. The collaboration aims to explore the biodiversity and feeding strategies of phagotrophic protists and to identify protist groups with strong algal-feeding and toxin-degrading capabilities for controlling harmful algal blooms, providing a scientific basis for the biological control of harmful cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems. 

Professor Denis Tikhonenkov is a young leading scientist at the Institute for the Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on the diversity, ecology, and systematics of protists and eukaryotes. In recent years, he has made significant advances in the study of the origins of multicellular animals, photosynthetic eukaryotes, alveolate evolution, the origins of apicomplexan parasites, and the evolution of the eukaryotic tree of life and mitochondrial genomes.

A group photo of the researchers from both the Chinese and Russian sides. (Crdit: IHB)