Morphological and molecular assessment of Grateloupia (Halymeniales, Rhodophyta) from Egypt revealed a new introduced species in the Mediterranean Sea, Grateloupia gibbesii

Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot for introduced marine species, including seaweeds. Among red algae, Grateloupia, with no less than eight introduced species, occupies a prominent position. Here, we report a large foliose Grateloupia species collected in Eastern Harbour, Alexandria, Egypt, which had previously been reported as G. acuminata and G. doryphora. Comparison of rbcL gene sequences revealed that the specimens represent G. gibbesii, a species originally described from Charleston, South Carolina, USA and potentially distributed in the warm temperate and tropical western Atlantic Ocean. The species has been known only from a single location in Alexandria since the early 1990s, it has not been reported in extensive surveys prior to that date, and there are no reports from other Mediterranean sites. This indicates a recent introduction, with shipping the likely vector. We describe the vegetative and reproductive morphology of G. gibbesii as the basis for evaluating variation in female reproductive structures and generic concepts in Grateloupia.

Revisiting the systematics of the genera Grateloupia, Phyllymenia, and Prionitis (Halymeniaceae, Rhodophyta) with a description of a new species—Prionitis taiwani‐borealis

“…The generic diagnostic features in the Halymeniaceae include a combination of auxiliary cell ampullae features, cystocarp morphology, and vegetative structure (Chiang 1970, Womersley and Lewis 1994, 2020 as well as gene phylogeny (Wang et al 2001, Hommersand et al 2010, Calderon et al 2014a,b, D'Archino et al 2015. However, the development of the auxiliary cell ampullar complex and carposporophytes is obscure and controversial in many genera, especially in the Grateloupia/Phyllymenia/Prionitis complex (Lin et al 2008, Gargiulo et al 2013, Rodr ıguez-Prieto et al 2021. The LSU+rbcL phylogenetic analyses in this study (see Fig.…”

“…Furthermore, Rodríguez‐Prieto et al. (2021: 85) did not use the words “here designated” in their attempted selection of a lectotype as required by ICN Art. 7.11.…”

“…However, the female reproductive structures for some species of Grateloupia sensu lato that are closely related to this complex based on rbc L sequence analyses (see Lin and Liang 2011, Rodríguez‐Prieto et al. 2021) were shown to have similar developmental patterns to the “ G . taiwanensis type” (Lin et al.…”

Nematicidal Activity of Silver Nanoparticles Synthesized by Seaweeds Extracts Against Meloidogyne Incognita on Tomato Plant

“…Algae were considered as good alternative for nematode control 57 . On the other hand, the use of nanoparticles such as nano silver has been adopted in the last few years to control plant pathogens including nematodes 30,58 .…”

“…Recently, the development of nanotechnologies in many elds such as biology, medicine, pharmacology and as well as agriculture gave rise to the application of green silver nanoparticles as a new approach to control root knot nematodes 29,30 . Khan et al 31 reported that different seaweeds exhibited signi cant nematicidal activities such as: inhibition of egg hatching, increasement larval mortality and reduction of root-knot disease.…”