PHYLOGENETIC AFFINITIES OF CRYSONEPHELE PALUSTRIS (CHRYSOPHYCEAE) BASED ON INFERRED NUCLEAR SMALL-SUBUNIT RIBOSOMAL RNA SEQUENCE

The nuclear small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequence was determined from the colonial chromophytic alga Chrysonephele palustris Pipes, Tyler, et Leedale using polymerase chain reaction methods. The inferred ribosomal RNA sequence was included in a multiple alignment, containing heterokont chromophytes, and subjected to molecular systematic analyses in order to determine the phylogenetic relationships of this alga . Chrysonephele palustris grouped within the Chrysophyceae and not in an intermediate position between the Chrysophyceae and Eustigmatophyceae, suggesting that Chrysonephele is not a phylogenetic link between these algal classes .