Species delimitation of the genus Champia (Rhodymeniales, Rhodophyta) from Korea using DNA barcoding

Abstract

DNA barcoding is becoming a widely applied tool to accurately discriminate red algae. We tested the effectiveness of DNA barcoding for identification and discovery of Champia species in Korea and clarified the phylogenetic relationships using the plastid rbcL gene. As results, we described four species of Champia such as C. inkyua sp. nov., C. recta Noda, C. bifida Okamura, and C. expansa Yendo. A new species, C. inkyua, is characterized by entangled thallus, terete and irregular branches, hooked apices, and longitudinal filaments running throughout the frond periphery only. Longitudinal filaments were composed of a complete cell with two half cells between diaphragms in the cavity. C. recta and C. bifida were reinstated with previously used names of C. parvula and C. compressa, respectively. C. recta is the first recorded species from Korea and is characterized by an erect thallus, terete and irregular branches, and straight apices. C. bifida is characterized by compressed thallus, pinnate or alternate branches, and bifid apices. C. expansa is characterized by flabellate thallus and dichotomous branches. Molecular analyses of COI and rbcL genes revealed sufficient sequence divergence to warrant species recognition in the genus Champia.

Cryptic species diversity of the red algal genus Callophyllis (Kallymeniaceae, Gigartinales) from Korea

“…Extracted DNA was processed to the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify rbcL and COI-5P genes. The primer combinations used to amplify each gene region were rbcL_F145-rbcL_R898 and rbcL_F762- (Saunders 2008, Koh et al 2013, Schneider et al 2014). In the genus Callophyllis, Harper and Saunders (2002) carried out molecular analysis using the nuclear LSU rDNA gene marker.…”

Characterization of Herposiphonia pectinata (Decaisne) comb. nov. (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) from Western Australia, based on morphology and DNA barcoding

“…Molecular analyses of red algae are increasingly being used to resolve phylogenetic relationships and species boundaries (Koh et al 2013). Recent studies of the family Rhodomelaceae have used the plastid-encoded ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) gene to infer phylogenetic relationships for the Laurencia complex and Polysiphonia sensu lato (Cassano et al 2012, Kim and.…”