Genetic polymorphism in Caulerpa taxifolia (Ulvophyceae) chloroplast DNA revealed by a PCR‐based assay of the invasive Mediterranean strain

Abstract An invasive, cold‐tolerant strain of the tropical green alga Caulerpa taxifolia was introduced recently in the Mediterranean Sea and along the Californian coast. We screened 50 aquarium and open‐sea C. taxifolia specimens for the presence/absence of an intron located in the rbcL gene of chloroplast DNA. We also reanalysed a total of 229 sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) of ribosomal DNA, combining previously published sequences from different studies with 68 new sequences to complement rbcL data. The introduced Mediterranean strain was found to be characterized by the absence of the rbcL intron and by the occurrence of a particular monomorphic ITS type. A PCR assay based on rbcL gene was developed to detect new introductions of the invasive strain of C. taxifolia. This rapid and inexpensive test could be useful to assist environment managers in the preservation of coastal marine ecosystems.