THE PRASIOLALES (CHLOROPHYTA) OF ATLANTIC EUROPE: AN ASSESSMENT BASED ON MORPHOLOGICAL, MOLECULAR, AND ECOLOGICAL DATA, INCLUDING THE CHARACTERIZATION OFROSENVINGIELLA RADICANS(KÜTZING) COMB. NOV.¹

Abstract

Despite a simple morphology and intensive studies carried out for more than two centuries, the systematics of the Prasiolales still presents several unsolved problems. The taxonomic relationships of several common species of Prasiolales, mostly from northern Europe, were investigated by a combination of morphological observations, culture experiments, and molecular analyses based on rbcL sequences. The results indicate that Rosenvingiella and Prasiola are separate genera. The capacity for production of tridimensional pluriseriate gametangia and the presence of unicellular rhizoids are the morphological features that discriminate Rosenvingiella from filamentous forms of Prasiola. The molecular data indicate that uniseriate filaments can be produced in at least three different species of Prasiola. The genetic diversity of uniseriate filamentous Prasiolales is higher than their simple morphology would indicate, and the provisional retention of Schizogonium Kützing 1843 as independent genus is recommended. The rbcL phylogeny confirms that Prasiola calophylla, P. crispa, and P. stipitata are distinct species, whereas P. stipitata and P. meridionalis are probably conspecific. Rosenvingiella polyrhiza is a strictly marine alga, and most records of Rosenvingiella in Europe are referable to Rosenvingiella radicans, proposed here as a new combination based on Ulothrix radicans Kütz-ing 1849. This is a primarily terrestrial alga that can occur from upper intertidal rock to locations situated hundreds of kilometers inland. The great confusion that has arisen in Europe between these two species in the last century is mostly due to misidentifications of marine populations of R. radicans.

Taxonomic status of Chara tenuspina A. Br. (Streptophyta: Charales) based on LM morphology, matK, atpB and rbcL of cpDNA sequences

“…In addition to the morphological observations, a molecular technique -sequencing of the maturase chloroplast (matK), ATP synthase (atpB) and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (rbcL) was used. Chloroplast-encoded plastid DNA genes, such as atpB, matK, psaB, rbcL, as well as the nuclear internal transcribed sequence (ITS) was used previously in establishing the phylogeny of certain land plants (HooT 1995;Hoot et al 1995) and algae, especially the Characeae (Sanders et al 2003;Rindi et al 2004;Sakayama et al 2002) and are used as barcode markers. Before analysis, DNA variation was tested on a subset of six samples of the genes listed above, to test genetic variability.…”

Morphology and phylogenetic position of a freshwater Prasiola species (Prasiolales, Chlorophyta) in Korea

“…Molecular phylogenetic studies and DNA barcode marker analyses in Prasiola have primarily been conducted in marine species from Europe, North America, Tasmania, New Zealand, and the Antarctic (Sherwood et al 2000, Rindi et al 2004, Saunders and Kucera 2010, Heesch et al 2012, Moniz et al 2012a, 2012b, 2014. In contrast, the molecular phylogenies of Asian freshwater species have rarely been reported.…”

“…The sequencing reactions were performed using ABI-PRISM BigDye Terminator Cycle Sequencing Kits, and the florescent signals were detected using an ABI PRISM 3730XL Analyzer (Applied Biosystems). The sequences were verified using Chromas 1.45 (McCarthy 1996) and aligned visually using previously published data (Sherwood et al 2000, Rindi et al 2004, Saunders and Kucera 2010, Heesch et al 2012, Moniz et al 2012a, 2012b, 2014.…”

“…Ground powder was used for the DNA extraction procedure using a NucleoSpin Plant II kit (Macherey-Nagel, Düren, Germany), following the manufacturer's protocol. Plastid rbcL regions were amplified using the PF2 / PR2 primer pair (Rindi et al 2004) for fresh materials and nine newly designed primer sets for the type specimen of P. formosana var. coreana (Table 2, Fig.…”

“…The genus of leafy green algae, Prasiola Meneghini includes marine, terrestrial (mostly supralittoral), and freshwater species characterized by monostromatic blades generally expanding above and narrowing to a short stipitate region at the base (Rindi et al 2004, Moniz et al 2012a, 2012b, Guiry and Guiry 2015. A total of 36 species have been reported in this genus, at least 14 of which are freshwater organisms (Moniz et al 2012b, Guiry andGuiry 2015).…”