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Issue: Vol. 376 No. 6: 22 November 2016
Type: Article
Published: 2018-11-22
DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.376.6.4
Page range: 291–300
Abstract views: 21
PDF downloaded: 1

Spongiosarcinopsis terrestris gen. et sp. nov. (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae): a new genus of green algae from gray forest soil, Russia

Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya Str. 2, Pushchino 142290, Russian Federation
Institute of Physicochemical and Biological Problems in Soil Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institutskaya Str. 2, Pushchino 142290, Russian Federation
Limnological institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya Str. 3, Irkutsk 664033, Russian Federation
Limnological institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Batorskaya Str. 3, Irkutsk 664033, Russian Federation Department of Physical and Chemical Biology Irkutsk State University, Sukhe-Batora Str. 5, Irkutsk 664003, Russian Federation
Institute of Plant Physiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Botanicheskaya Str. 35, Moscow 127276, Russian Federation
18S rRNA gene ITS2 green algae morphology new genus taxonomy Algae

Abstract

The diversity of soil green microalgae (Chlorophyta) is generally poorly known and likely underestimated because of their morphological poverty and crypticity. The use of molecular tools has revolutionized algal diversity research, including the discovery of numerous new taxa. On the basis of light microscopy, we isolated Chlorochytrium-like strain ACSSI 023 from gray forest soil (Moscow region, Russia), but with spongy rather than network chloroplast. This strain was evaluated by means of 18S rRNA gene and ITS2 sequences analyses and ultrastructural observations. Morphology, comparing the ITS2 secondary structure, compensatory base changes, intron lacking and percent similarity of the 18S rRNA gene of the isolated strain allowed us to propose a new genus and species for it, Spongiosarcinopsis terrestris gen. et sp. nov. The genus forms a separate independent branch within the Stephanosphaerinia clade (Chlorophyta, Chlorophyceae) with type species—Spongiosarcinopsis terrestris ACSSI 023.