The Minute Alga Schizocladia ischiensis (Schizocladiophyceae, Ochrophyta) Isolated by Germling Emergence from 24 m Depth off Rhodes (Greece)

Abstract

Substratum collected during diving surveys of sublittoral communities off the Greek island of Rhodes (Dodecanese, South-East Aegean) in late 2015 was incubated in the laboratory. Among the emerging macroalgal germlings, there was the second-ever record and isolate of the small benthic multicellular alga Schizocladia ischiensis of the poorly known monotypic Schizocladiophyceae, the sister group of the brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Its nuclear ribosomal small subunit, Rubisco spacer (rbcL, psaA, and psbC sequences (in total 5237 bp)) were similar to those of the only previous isolate of the species from Ischia, western Mediterranean. Our new strain formed branched upright thalli attached to the substratum by an amorphous substance secreted at the bottom of the basal cell. It is possible that S. ischiensis is a common member of the infralittoral and circalittoral communities in the Mediterranean and generally overlooked because of its minute size. Germling emergence appears to represent the method of choice to reveal benthic algae of this small size.

Assessment of the macroalgal diversity of Kuwait by using the Germling Emergence Method

“…thic multicellular alga Schizocladia ischiensis; thus, this method appears to reveal benthic algae even when small in size (Rizouli et al 2020). In another study, isolates of the genus Ectocarpus and associated bacterial strains from Hopkins River in Australia, obtained using the GE method, provided the possibility to study Ectocarpus adaptations to abiotic parameters -especially low salinity and the interactions of the alga with the endogenous microbiome (Dittami et al 2020b).…”

Structure and Biodiversity of Rhodolith Seabeds: A Special Issue

“…First, Sporolithon franciscanum, a new rhodolith-forming species of non-geniculate coralline algae, is described from the São Francisco river mouth, Brazil [5]. In another paper, Rizouli et al [6] isolated the small benthic multicellular alga Schizocladia ischiensis of the poorly known monotypic Schizocladiophyceae, the sister group of the brown algae (Phaeophyceae). Both studies have used cutting-edge molecular tools to describe both algal species.…”