Phaeocystis rex sp. nov. (Phaeocystales, Prymnesiophyceae): a new solitary species that produces a multilayered scale cell covering

TitlePhaeocystis rex sp. nov. (Phaeocystales, Prymnesiophyceae): a new solitary species that produces a multilayered scale cell covering
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsAndersen RA, J. Bailey C, Decelle J, Probert I
JournalEuropean Journal of Phycology
Volume50
Pagination207–222
ISSN0967-0262
Keywords2015, algae, organic scales, Phaeocystales, Phaeocystis rex, Prymnesiophyceae, rcc, RCC4025, RCC?o?dd, SBR$_\textrmP$hyto$_\textrmE$PPO, systematics, ultrastructure
Abstract

A morphologically distinct marine species, Phaeocystis rex sp. nov., was described on the basis of light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and DNA sequence comparisons. Non-motile cells were solitary (non-colonial), 6–10 µm in diameter and 8–15 µm long, and possessed chloroplasts with distinctive finger-like lobes. TEM observations demonstrated the presence of two short flagella and a very short haptonema that arose from an invagination of the protoplast. Non-motile cells were surrounded by one to several dense layers composed of scales, presumably unmineralized, and an amorphous material. Phylogenetic analyses based upon combined partial nucleotide sequences for five nuclear-or plastid-encoded genes (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, 16S rRNA, psbA and rbcL) from cultured strains and from uncharacterized acantharian symbionts confirmed that P. rex was a distinct species. These analyses implied that P. rex occupies an intermediate evolutionary position between solitary and colonial Phaeocystis species.

URLhttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09670262.2015.1024287
DOI10.1080/09670262.2015.1024287