GEITLERINEMA SPECIES (OSCILLATORIALES,CYANOBACTERIA) REVEALED BY CELLULAR MORPHOLOGY,ULTRASTRUCTURE, AND DNA SEQUENCING1 |
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Authors: | Maria Do Carmo Bittencourt‐Oliveira Ariadne Do Nascimento Moura Mariana Cabral De Oliveira Nelson Sidnei Massola Jr. |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Biological Sciences, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of S?o Paulo, Piracicaba 13418‐900, SP, Brazil;2. Received 25 June 2008. Accepted 28 January 2009.;3. Department of Biology, University Federal and Rural of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco 52171‐030, Brazil;4. Department of Botany, Institute of Biosciences, University of S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo 05508‐900, SP, Brazil;5. Departments of Entomology, Plant Pathology and Agricultural Zoology, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of S?o Paulo, Piracicaba 13418‐900, SP, Brazil |
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Abstract: | Geitlerinema amphibium (C. Agardh ex Gomont) Anagn. and G. unigranulatum (Rama N. Singh) Komárek et M. T. P. Azevedo are morphologically close species with characteristics frequently overlapping. Ten strains of Geitlerinema (six of G. amphibium and four of G. unigranulatum) were analyzed by DNA sequencing and transmission electronic and optical microscopy. Among the investigated strains, the two species were not separated with respect to cellular dimensions, and cellular width was the most varying characteristic. The number and localization of granules, as well as other ultrastructural characteristics, did not provide a means to discriminate between the two species. The two species were not separated either by geography or environment. These results were further corroborated by the analysis of the cpcB‐cpcA intergenic spacer (PC‐IGS) sequences. Given the fact that morphology is very uniform, plus the coexistence of these populations in the same habitat, it would be nearly impossible to distinguish between them in nature. On the other hand, two of the analyzed strains were distinct from all others based on the PC‐IGS sequences, in spite of their morphological similarity. PC‐IGS sequences indicate that these two strains could be a different species of Geitlerinema. Using morphology, cell ultrastructure, and PC‐IGS sequences, it is not possible to distinguish G. amphibium and G. unigranulatum. Therefore, they should be treated as one species, G. unigranulatum as a synonym of G. amphibium. |
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Keywords: | cpcBA sequences cyanobacteria microscopy morphology taxonomy ultrastructure |
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