Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
Responsive image
Issue: Vol. 687 No. 1: 13 Feb. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-02-13
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.687.1.6
Page range: 84-100
Abstract views: 120
PDF downloaded: 7

Morphology and molecular phylogeny of Virescentia guangxiensis (Batrachospermaceae, Rhodophyta)

School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
School of Life Science, Shanxi Key Laboratory for Research and Development of Regional Plants, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China.
Virescentia guangxiensis Morphological characters Molecular phylogeny Chloroplast genomes Mitochondrial genomes Algae

Abstract

Two collections of freshwater red algae from Zhejiang and Shanxi Province in China are described morphologically and their phylogenetic relationships investigated through molecular sequencing of the rbcL and COI genes. The molecular sequences show a close relationship to Virescentia guangxiensis, a species previously reported from Guangxi and Henan Province, China, particularly through robust support values for rbcL (97/0.95, 70/0.86 ML and BI, respectively) and COI (100/1.00). Morphologically, one sample is a multiseriate gametophyte stage, the other a uniseriate ‘Chantransia’ stage. The gametophyte morphology is consistent with that reported for Virescentia guangxiensis, including key features such as spirally twisted carpogonial branches, spherical spermatangia and carpogonium with clavate trichogynes. Both samples are therefore identified as Virescentia guangxiensis, extending the morphological, genetic and geographical range of this species.

References

  1. Aristya, G.R., Fontana, S., Pok, W.L., Necchi, Jr.O. & Liu, S.L. (2024) Virescentia asiatica sp. nov. (Batrachospermales Rhodophyta), a new freshwater red alga from East Asia. Cryptogamie, Algologie 45: 77–88. https://doi.org/10.5252/cryptogamie-algologie2024v45a7
  2. Bankevich, A., Nurk, S., Antipov, D., Gurevich, A.A., Dvorkin, M., Kulikov, A.S., Lesin, V.M., Nikolenko, S.I., Pham, S., Prjibelski, A.D., Pyshkin, A.V., Sirotkin, A.V., Vyahhi, N., Tesler, G., Alekseyev, M.A. & Pevzner, P.A. (2012) SPAdes: a new genome assembly algorithm and its applications to single-cell sequencing. Journal of Computational Biology 19: 455–477. http://doi.org/10.1089/cmb.2012.0021
  3. Capella-Gutiérrez, S., Silla-Martínez, J.M. & Gabaldón, T. (2009) trimAl: a tool for automated alignment trimming in large-scale phylogenetic analyses. Bioinformatics 25: 1972–1973. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btp348
  4. Cock, P.J.A., Fields, C.J., Goto, N., Heuer, M.L. & Rice, P.M. (2010) The Sanger FASTQ file format for sequences with quality scores, and the Solexa/Illumina FASTQ variants. Nucleic Acids Research 38: 1767–1771. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkp1137
  5. Darling, A.C.E., Mau, B., Blattnerg, F.R. & Perna, N.T. (2004) Mauve: multiple alignment of conserved genomic sequence with rearrangements. Genome Research 14: 1394–1403. https://doi.org/10.1101/gr.2289704
  6. Fang, K.-P., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2020) Batrachospermum qujingense (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta), a new freshwater red algal species from Southwest China. Phytotaxa 461: 1–11. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.461.1.1
  7. Fang, K.-P., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2021a) A New Species of Kumanoa (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) from Baiyun Mountain, Guangdong, China. Phytotaxa 523: 89–98. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.523.1.5
  8. Fang, K.-P., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2021b) Virescentia guangxiensis (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta): a new freshwater red algal species from South China. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology 39: 1538–1546. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-020-0225-0
  9. Fang, K.-P., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2022) Sheathia yunnanensis, a new species of freshwater red alga (Rhodophyta: Batrachospermales) from Yunnan, China. Nordic Journal of Botany 2022: e03476. http://doi.org/10.1111/njb.03476
  10. Fang, K.-P., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q. & Xie, S.-L. (2019) Morphology and molecular phylogeny of a freshwater red algae. Journal of Lake Sciences 31: 220–235. http://doi.org/10.18307/2019.0121
  11. Guindon, S., Dufayard, J.F., Lefort, V., Anisimova, M., Hordijk, W. & Gascuel, O. (2010) New algorithms and methods to estimate maximum-likelihood phylogenies: assessing the performance of PhyML 3.0. Systematic biology 59: 307–321. http://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syq010
  12. Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. (2023) AlgaeBase: World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland,Galway. Available from: https://www.algaebase.org/ (accessed 23 December 2023)
  13. Hall, T.A. (1999) BioEdit: a user-friendly biological sequence alignment editor and analysis program for Windows 95/98/NT. Nucleic Acids Symposium Series 41: 95–98. https://doi.org/10.1021/bk-1999-0734.ch008
  14. Han, J.-F., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2021a) Affinities of freshwater “Chantransia” stage algae (Rhodophyta) from China based on molecular and morphological analyses. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology 39: 1063–1076. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-020-0114-6
  15. Han, J.-F., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Kociolek, J.P. & Xie, S.-L. (2018) Sheathia jinchengensis (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta), a new freshwater red algal species described from North China. Phytotaxa 367: 63–70. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.367.1.7
  16. Han, J.-F., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2019) Sheathia matouensis (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta), a new freshwater red algal species from North China. Phytotaxa 415: 255–263. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.415.5.1
  17. Han, J.-F., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2020) Affinities of four freshwater putative “Chantransia” stages (Rhodophyta) in Southern China from molecular and morphological data. Phytotaxa 441: 47–59. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.441.1.4
  18. Han, J.-F., Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2021b) Phylogenetic, evolutionary, and biogeographic origin of the genus Sheathia (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta). Journal of Oceanology and Limnology 40: 729–744. http://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-1075-0
  19. Hanyuda, T., Suzawa, Y., Suzawa, T., Arai, S., Sato, H., Ueda, K. & Kumano, S. (2004) Biogeography and taxonomy of Batrachospermum helminthosum (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) in Japan inferred from rbcL gene sequences. Journal of Phycology 40: 581–588. http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1529-8817.2004.03159.x
  20. Huang, Q. & Jiang, Z. (2022) Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) DNA barcode based on bito⁃chondrial COI and 16S rRNA gene sequences. Journal of Jilin Agricultural University 44: 215–220. https://doi.org/10.7629/yxdwfz202205015
  21. Jiang, L.-C., Schlesinger, F., Davis, C.A., Zhang, Y., Li, R.-H, Salit, M., Gingeras, T.R. & Oliver, B. (2011) Synthetic spike-in standards for RNA-seq experiments. Genome research 21: 1543–1551. http://doi.org/10.1101/gr.121095.111
  22. Kalyaanamoorthy, S., Minh, B.Q., Wong, T.K.F., von Haeseler, A. & Jermiin, L.S. (2017) ModelFinder: fast model selection for accurate phylogenetic estimates. Nature Methods 14: 587–589. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.4285
  23. Katoh, K. & Standley, D.M. (2013) MAFFT multiple sequence alignment software version 7: improvements in performance and usability. Molecular Biology and Evolution 30: 772–780. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/mst010
  24. Kumano, S. (2002) Freshwater red algae of the world. Biopress Ltd, Bristol, UK, 375 pp.
  25. Kumar, S., Stecher, G. & Tamura, K. (2016) MEGA7: Molecular evolutionary genetics analysis version 7.0 for bigger datasets. Molecular Biology and Evolution 33: 1870–1874. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msw054
  26. Laslett, D. & Canback, B. (2004) ARAGORN, a program to detect tRNA genes and tmRNA genes in nucleotide sequences. Nucleic Acids Research 32: 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkh152
  27. Li, Q., Ji, L. & Xie, S.-L. (2010) Phylogenetic analysis of Batrachospemales (Florideophyceae, Rhodophyta) based on chloroplast rbcL sequences. Acta Hydrobiologica Sinica 34: 20–28. http://doi.org/10.3724/SP.J.1035.2010.00020
  28. Lu, X.-X., Chen, Z.-J., Xie, Y.-Y., Xia, Q. & Lu, Y.-J. (2022) Molecular identification and phylogenetic analysis on Psychoda alternata based on the coi gene in Hainan. Journal of Medical Pest Control 38: 467–471. https://doi.org/10.7629/yxdwfz202205015
  29. Meng, L., Zhang, Y., Zhang, X., Gong, L., Wei, X.-X., Tong, G.-X. & Gao, Y. (2022) Comparative analysis of 21 mitochondrial COI sequences of Macrophthalmidae species and its phylogenetic studies. Journal of Southern Agriculture 53: 2015–2024. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.2095-1191.2022.07.025
  30. Müller, K.M., Sherwood, A.R., Pueschel, C.M., Gutell, R.R. & Sheath, R.G. (2002) A proposal for a new red algal order, the Thoreales1. Journal of Phycology 38: 807–820. http://doi.org/10.1046/j.1529-8817.2002.01055.x
  31. Nan, F.-R, Feng, J., Lv, J.-P, Liu, Q., Fang, K.-P., Gong, C.-Y. & Xie, S.-L. (2017a) Origin and evolutionary history of freshwater Rhodophyta: further insights based on phylogenomic evidence. Scientific Reports 7: 2934. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03235-5
  32. Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D., Gao, F. & Xie, S.-L. (2020a) Comparison of the transcriptomes of different life history stages of the freshwater Rhodophyte Thorea hispida. Genomics 112 (6): 3978–3990. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ygeno.2020.07.010
  33. Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q. & Xie, S.-L. (2017b) Hildenbrandia jigongshanensis (Hildenbrandiaceae, Rhodophyta), a new freshwater species described from Jigongshan Mountain, China. Phytotaxa 292: 243–252. http://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.292.3.4
  34. Nan, F.-R., Feng, J., Lv, J.-P., Liu, Q. & Xie, S.-L. (2018) Transcriptome analysis of the typical freshwater rhodophytes Sheathia arcuata grown under different light intensities. PLoS One 13: e0197729. http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0197729
  35. Nan, F.-R., Feng, J. & Xie, S.L. (2014) Advances on Systematics of Kumanoa (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta). World Sci-tech R & D 36: 329–335. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1006-6055.2014.03.022
  36. Nan, F.-R, Han, J.-F, Feng, J., Lv, J.-P, Liu, Q., Liu, X.-D. & Xie, S.-L. (2020b) Phylogeny and morphology of Nemalionopsis shawii (Thoreales, Rhodophyta), a new generic record from mainland China. Phycological Research 69: 58–65. https://doi.org/10.1111/pre.12444
  37. Necchi, Jr.O., Agostinho, D.C. & Vis, M.L. (2018) Revision of Batrachospermum section Virescentia (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) with the establishment of the new genus, Virescentia stat. nov. Cryptogamie, Algologie 39: 313–338. https://doi.org/10.7872/crya/v39.iss3.2018.313
  38. Nguyen, L.T., Schmidt, H.A., Haeseler, A.v. & Minh, B.Q. (2015) IQ-TREE: a fast and effective stochastic algorithm for estimating maximum-likelihood phylogenies. Molecular Biology and Evolution 32: 268–274. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msu300
  39. Okonechnikov, K., Golosova, O., Fursov, M. & the UGENE team (2012) Unipro UGENE: a unified bioinformatics toolkit. Bioinformatics 28: 1166–1167. https://doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/bts091
  40. Ronquist, F., Teslenko, M., van der Mark, P., Ayres, D.L., Darling, A., Hohna, S., Larget, B., Liu, L., Suchard, M.A. & Huelsenbeck, J.P. (2012) MrBayes 3.2: efficient Bayesian phylogenetic inference and model choice across a large model space. Systematic Biology 61: 539–542. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/sys029
  41. Ruby, J.G., Bellare, P. & DeRisi, J.L. (2013) Price: software for the targeted assembly of components of (meta) genomic sequence data. G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics 3: 865–880. https://doi.org/10.1534/g3.113.005967
  42. Rybak, A.S. (2018) The Ulva flexuosa complex (Ulvaceae, Chlorophyta): An updated identification key with special reference to the freshwater and hyperhaline taxa. Phytotaxa 345: 83–103. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.345.2.1
  43. Saunders, G.W. (1993) Gel purifi cation of red algal genomic DNA an inexpensive and rapid method for the isolation of polymerase chain reaction-friendly DNA. Journal of Phycology 29 (2): 251–254. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3646.1993.00251.x
  44. Saunders, G.W. (2005) Applying DNA barcoding to red macroalgae: a preliminary appraisal holds promise for future applications. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 360: 1879–1888. http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2005.1719
  45. Shi, Z.-X., Xie, S.-L. & Hua, D. (2006) Flora Algarum Sinicarum Aquae Dulci, Tomus XIII, Rhodophyta, Phaeophyta. Science Press, Beijing. 208 pp.
  46. Sirodot, S. (1873) Nouvelle classification des algues d’eau douce du genre Batrachospermum: développement; générations alternates. Comptes-rendus hebdomadaires des séances de l’Académie des Sciences 76: 1120–1216.
  47. Thiers, B. (2023) Index herbariorum: a global directory of public herbaria and associated and associated staff. New York Botanical Garden's Virtual Herbarium. Available from: http://sweetgum.nybg.org/science/ih/ (accessed 12 February 2025)
  48. Vis, M.L. & Necchi, Jr.O. (2021) Subphylum Eurhodophytina, Class Florideophyceae, Subclass Nemaliophycidae, Order Batrachospermales. In: Freshwater red algae Phylogeny, taxonomy and biogeography. Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham: International Publishing, pp.307-317.
  49. Vis, M.L., Saunders, G.W., Sheath, R.G., Dunse, K. & Entwisle, T.J. (1998) Phylogeny of the Batrachospermales (Rhodophyta) inferred from rbcL and 18S ribosomal DNA gene sequences. Journal of Phycology 34: 341–350. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1529-8817.1998.340341.x
  50. Vis, M.L. & Sheath, R.G. (1997) Biogeography of Batrachospermum gelatinosum (Batrachospermales, Rhodophyta) in North America based on molecular and morphological data. Journal of Phycology 33: 520–526. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3646.1997.00520.x
  51. Wolf, D.I., Evans, J.R. & Vis, M.L. (2017) Complete mitochondrial genome of the freshwater red alga Lympha mucosa (Rhodophyta). Mitochondrial DNA Part B Resources 2: 707–708. http://doi.org/10.1080/23802359.2017.1390417
  52. Xie, S.-L. & Ling, Y.-J. (2002) Modern geographical distribution and origin of Batrachospermales. Journal of Shanxi University (Natural Science Edition) 25: 149–155. http://doi.org/10.13451/j.cnki.shanxi.univ(nat.sci.).2002.02.015
  53. Xie, S.-L. & Yao, G. (2006) Change and development of the classification systems of Batrachospermaceae (Rhodophyta) and evaluation of its main characteristics. World Sci-Tech R & D 28: 33–39. https://doi.org/10.16507/j.issn.1006-6055.2006.01.006
  54. Yan, L.-Y., Yang, M.-Y., Guo, H.-S., Yang, L., Wu, J., Li, R., Liu, P., Lian, Y., Zheng, X.-Y, Yan, J., Huang, J., Li, M., Wu, X.-L., Wen, L., Lao, K.-Q, Li, R.-Q, Qiao, J. & Tang, F.-C. (2013) Single-cell RNA-Seq profiling of human preimplantation embryos and embryonic stem cells. Nature Structural Molecular Biology 20: 1131–1139. https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.2660
  55. Yao, G. & Xie, S.-L. (2007) Progress in Molecular Systematics of Batrachospermales. Chinese Bulletin of Botany 24: 141–146. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1674-3466.2007.02.003
  56. Zhang, D., Gao, F., Li, W.-X, Jakovlić, I., Zou, H., Zhang, J. & Wang, G.-T. (2020) PhyloSuite: an integrated and scalable desktop platform for streamlined molecular sequence data management and evolutionary phylogenetics studies. Molecular Ecology Resources 20: 348–355. http://doi.org/10.1101/489088

How to Cite

Guo, W.-N., Nan, F.-R., He, Z.-S., Liu, X.-D., Liu, Y., Liu, Q., Feng, J. & Xie, S.-L. (2025) Morphology and molecular phylogeny of Virescentia guangxiensis (Batrachospermaceae, Rhodophyta). Phytotaxa 687: 84–100. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.687.1.6