Diurnal vertical migration study during a winter bloom of Cryptophyceae in a floodplain pool

The diurnal vertical migration (DVM) of the phytoplankton community was studied in a small (270m²), shallow (1.8m), and frozen floodplain pool. Steep vertical gradients were detected in O₂, NH₄⁺-N, NO₃⁻-N and PO₄^3--P profiles. The phytoplankton of the pool is characterized by year round dominance of Cryptophyceae: Cryptomonas curvata and Cryptomonas marssonii created more than 90% of total phytoplankton biomass during the time of study. DVM was studied by analysing vertical profiles six times during a 24 hour cycle; samples were taken at 20 cm intervals along the profiles. Koliella planktonica, the only non-motile alga, showed a stable uniform distribution. Dinobryon divergens and Chrysococcus rufescens created a stable distinct concentration maximum at 40cm. Unlike these three species, both Cryptomonas spp. actively changed their position during the 24 hour cycle with distinctive evening downward and morning upward migration. The absence of filtering zooplankton excluded its influence on the patterns of phytoplankton DVM. The results showed the key role of PhAR (Photosynthetic active irradiance) in day - positioning of Cryptomonas. Night-time uptake of phosphate and/or ammonium at the bottom is probable, although direct evidence is lacking.     

PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF KOLIELLA (CHLOROPHYTA) AS INFERRED FROM NUCLEAR AND CHLOROPLAST SMALL SUBUNIT rDNA

The phylogenetic position of Koliella , a chlorophyte characterized by Klebsormidium type cell division, was inferred from analyses of partial 18S rDNA and partial 16S rDNA. Parsimony and distance analyses of separate and combined data sets indicated that the members of Koliella belonged to Trebouxiophyceae, and high decay indices and bootstrap values supported this affinity. However, the genus appeared to be polyphyletic. Koliella spiculiformis , the nomenclatural type of the genus, was allied with Nannochloris eucaryota and the "true" chlorellas ( Chlorella vulgaris , C. lobophora , C. sorokiniana , and C. kessleri ). The close relatives of Koliella longiseta (≡ Raphidonema longiseta ) and Koliella sempervirens appeared to be Stichococcus bacillaris and some species traditionally classified in Chlorella that were characterized by the production of secondary carotenoids under nitrogen-deficient conditions. This clade was also supported by the presence of a relatively phylogenetically stable group I intron (1506) in the 18S rRNA gene. Because of the presence of Klebsormidium type cell division, some authors regarded the members of Koliella as closely related to charophytes. Molecular analyses, however, did not confirm this affinity and suggested that a Klebsormidium type cell division is homoplastic in green plants.     

ASSESSING PHYLOGENETIC AFFINITIES AND SPECIES DELIMITATIONS IN KLEBSORMIDIALES (STREPTOPHYTA): NUCLEAR‐ENCODED rDNA PHYLOGENIES AND ITS SECONDARY STRUCTURE MODELS IN KLEBSORMIDIUM,HORMIDIELLA, AND ENTRANSIA1

Nuclear‐encoded SSU, group I intron, and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA sequences were obtained for 16 strains of green algae representing species of Klebsormidium, Hormidiella attenuata, and Entransia fimbriata (for taxonomic authorities, see Table S1 in the supplementary material). The SSU phylogeny resolved a well‐supported clade Klebsormidiales in the Streptophyta that comprised authentic Klebsormidium isolates described recently in a monograph by G. M. Lokhorst and various strains from culture collections. The H. attenuata and En. fimbriata pair was the sister group of Klebsormidium. Certain isolates from culture collections previously identified as “Klebsormidium” emerged as Trebouxiophyceae. Strains assigned to Koliella, Gloeotila, and Stichococcus previously allied with Klebsormidium because of shared morphological and ultrastructural characteristics also belonged to Trebouxiophyceae. Group I introns inserted at Escherichia coli position 516 were found in K. nitens and SAG strain 384‐1, and at position 1506 in H. attenuata and En. fimbriata. Introns were not observed in other Klebsormidiales. Unambiguous alignment of ITS regions of Klebsormidiales was only possible after thermodynamic folding had predicted eight conserved helical domains. The ITS phylogeny provided support for five of the morphospecies recognized by Lokhorst (K. flaccidum, K. elegans, K. bilatum, K. crenulatum, K. mucosum), but the sequences of K. dissectum, K. fluitans, and K. nitens formed an unresolved clade. The species with the earliest origin in the Klebsormidium phylogeny was K. flaccidum. The incongruence between Lokhorst’s morphology‐based cladograms and the ITS phylogenies demonstrated the need for a critical reappraisal of the taxonomy and the morphological and molecular species concept in Klebsormidium on the basis of a more extensive taxonomic and geographic sampling strategy.     

The morphology and ecology of Nemastoma and Predaea species (Nemastomataceae,Rhodophyta) from Ghana

Two members of the family Nemastomataceae (Gigartinales, Rhodophyta) are described from subtidal habitats in Ghana. Nemastoma confusum sp. nov. is a plant of irregularly lobed, thick gelatinous blades with subacute marginal projections and surface proliferations. It is composed of a lax medulla and submoniliform cortical filaments with prominent intercalary gland cells. Carposporophytes are one to three spherical lobes of carposporangia borne on gonimoblast initials arising directly from auxiliary cells contacted by connecting filaments. A rudimentary involucre is formed around the gonimoblast by elongating vegetative cortical cells borne on the auxiliary cell. The genus Predaea is recorded for the first time from Africa, and P. feldmannii Boerg. is described in morphological detail together with some observations on its ecology in Ghana. Distinctive features of connecting filament formation, nutritive cell production and gonimoblast initiation and development are illustrated and compared to other species of the genus. A second species, P. masonii (Setch. & Gardn.) De Toni fil., is represented by a single specimen in the collections and appears to be distinct from P. feldmannii on cortical and gland cell features.     

New genus Koliellopsis (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta): its phylogenetic position inferred from ultrastructure and nuclear ribosomal DNA sequences

Koliellopsis inundata Lokhorst gen. & sp. nov. (Trebouxiophyceae) is described from periodically flooded agricultural fields in the borderland of Belgium and the Netherlands. This new, unbranched, filamentous alga is typified by relatively long vegetative cells, which have a bilobed, laminate chloroplast with a nucleus positioned in its median constriction. Its filaments lack a distinct basal‐distal differentiation and both ends terminate in about equally shaped, rounded or, more often (slightly) tapering cells. Despite its semiterres‐trial occurrence the new alga does not attach to hard substrate, presumably owing to the lack of end cells to produce mucilage and to function as a holdfast. The systematic position of Koliellopsis among the green algae is inferred from ultrastructural examinations of the cell division patterns and from phylogenetic analyses of partial 18S rRNA gene sequences.