Cytographics-John A. West

John A. West

My interest in the seaweeds began when I was 12 years old and first saw the ocean and its diversity of plants and animals. As a graduate student my training focused on the red algae. They proved to be fascinating to observe in the field and to grow in laboratory culture, revealing their beauty, complexity and diversity in form and reproduction.

Date and Place of Birth: 4 February 1939, Orofino, Idaho, USA

Education: B.A. (Biology) 1961. Western Washington University, Bellingham

Ph.D. (Botany) 1966. University of Washington, Seattle

Professional Positions:

Assistant Professor of Botany, University of California, Berkeley. 1966-1972.

Associate Professor of Botany, University of California, Berkeley. 1962-1977.

Professor of Botany, University of California, Berkeley. 1977-1994.

Professor of Botany, Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley. 1994-present.

Professorial Fellow, School of Botany, University of Melbourne, 1994-present.

Awards and Honours and Elected Posts

NDEA Title IV Pre-Doctoral Fellowship, 1961-1964, University of Washington

NSF Summer Fellowship, 1961, 1963. Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington

Frye, Hotson and Rigg Prize for the best Ph.D. thesis research, 1966, Department of Botany, University of Washington

Recording Secretary, California Botanical Society, 1968-71.

Summer Faculty Fellowship, 1970, University of California, Berkeley.

Darbaker Prize, Botanical Society of America, 1973

Secretary, International Phycological Society, 1972-1974.

President, Phycological Society of America, 1976-1977.

Miller Foundation Professorship, University of California, 1977-78.

Honorary Professorship and Gold Medal, Universidad Nacional Federico Villareal, Lima, Peru, June 1988.

Tyge Christensen Prize, Best paper on macroalgal research published in the journal Phycologia between 1997-1999. International Phycological Society, 2000. Coauthors G. Zuccarello and R. King.

Primary Research Activities:

Forty years of research on marine algal systematics, ecophysiology, electron microscopy, carbohydrate and pigment chemistry, laboratory culture methods of marine algae. Recent focus on the ecophysiology, molecular biology and cell biology of various mangrove-associated red algae like Bostrychia and Caloglossa.

Publications

210 publications including 170 research papers in refereed journals, 10 chapters in books and 30 book reviews.

15 recent publications:

Zuccarello G.C., Burger ,G., West, J. and King, R. 1999. A mitochondrial marker for red algal intraspecific relationships. Molecular Ecology 8: 1443-1448.

Karsten, U., West, J., Zuccarello, G., Nixdorf, O. and King, R. 1999. Low molecular weight carbohydrate patterns in the Bangiophyceae (Rhodophyta). Journal of Phycology 35: 967-976.

Kamiya M, Tanaka, J., King, R., West, J, Zuccarello, G. and Kawai, H. 1999. Reproductive and genetic distinction between broad and narrow entities of Caloglossa continua (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta). Phycologia 38: 356-367.

Zuccarello G.C., West J., Kamiya M. and King R. 1999. A rapid method to plastid haplotypes in red seaweeds and its use in determining parental inheritance of plastids in the red alga Bostrychia (Ceramiales).Hydrobiologia 401: 207-214.

McBride, D. L. and West, J. 1999. Salinity reduction induces spermatial release in some cultured red algae. Algae 14: 133-137.

Zuccarello, G. C., West, J., Bitans, A. and Kraft, G. 2000. Molecular phylogeny of Rhodochaete parvula (Bangiophyceae, Rhodophyta) from Australia. Phycologia 39:75-81.

Kamiya, M., West, J. and Zuccarello, G. 2000. Caloglossa intermedia sp. nov. (Rhodophyta) from the western Atlantic coast: molecular and morphological analyses with special reference to C. leprieurii and C. monosticha. Journal of Phycology 36: 411-420.

Pueschel, C., Saunders, G. and West, J. 2000. Affinities of the freshwater red alga Audouinella macrospora and related forms based on small-subunit ribosomal rna gene sequence analysis and pit plug ultrastructure. Journal of Phycology. 36: 433-439.

Karsten, U., Sawall, T., West, J. and Wiencke, C. 2000. Ultraviolet sunscreen compounds in epiphytic red algae from mangroves. Hydrobiologia: 432-159-171.

Karsten, U. and West, J. 2000. Living in the intertidal zone- seasonal effects on heterosides and sun-screen compounds in the red alga Bangia atropurpurea (Bangiales). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 254: 221-234.

Pickett-Heaps, J., West, J., Wilson, S. and McBride, S. 2001. Time-lapse videomicroscopy of cell (spore) movement in red algae. European Journal of Phycology. 36:9-22.

West, J. A., Zuccarello, G. and Kamiya, M. 2001. Reproductive patterns of Caloglossa species (Delessericeae, Rhodophyta) from Australia and New Zealand: multiple origins of asexuality in C. leprieurii. Literature review of apomixis, mixed-phase reproduction, bisexuality and self-compatibility. Phycological Research 49: 183-200.

West, J., Hommersand, M. and Zuccarello, G. 2001. Morphology and reproduction of Bostrychia pinnata (Rhodomelaceae, Ceramiales) in laboratory culture. Phycological Research 49: 285-297.

Kim, G-H., Klotchkova, T. and West, J. 2002. From protoplasm to swarmer: regeneration of protoplasts from disintegrated cells of the multicellular marine green alga Microdictyon umbilicatum (Chlorophyta). Journal of Phycology. 38: 174-183 .

Zuccarello G.C. and West J.A. 2002. Phylogeography of the Bostrychia calliptera/B. pinnata complex (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) and divergence rates based on nuclear, mitochondrial and plastid DNA markers. Phycologia 41: 49-60.