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A molecular-assisted floristic survey of crustose brown algae (Phaeophyceae) from Malaysia and Lombok Island, Indonesia based on rbcL and partial cox1 genes

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Abstract

Studies on the crustose brown algae are relatively few despite a long history of studies conducted since the 1800s, with temperate species forming the bulk of these studies. There is a need for more focus on crustose brown algae particularly in the tropics as they are generally different from those in the temperate regions. Taxonomic confusion arising from morphological simplicity largely dependent on the reproductive structures and overlap in morpho-anatomical features among species necessitates the use of molecular techniques. This study is dedicated to a better understanding of the diversity of these understudied algae in the Indo–Malay region. Specimens collected from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah (Borneo) and Lombok Island in Indonesia were identified using molecular markers from the plastid rubisco large subunit (rbcL) and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) genes in tandem with morphology and anatomy. Three Mesospora spp., two putative Diplura spp. and the cosmopolitan Neoralfsia expansa were identified in this study, including a new record of Mesospora negrosensis for Malaysia. Despite their morpho-anatomical similarities, Mesospora and Diplura occur in widely divergent clades within the brown algae, the former in the Mesosporaceae in the Ralfsiales, the latter in an unclassified clade sister to the Ishigeales. All six species occurred both in Malaysia and Lombok Island except for M. elongata and M. negrosensis, respectively. The rbcL marker performed better in the elucidation of phylogeny among the brown algal orders, whereas cox1-5′ is more suited as a barcoding marker for species level identification.

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Acknowledgments

We are indebted to the University of Malaya for its financial support through the High Impact Research grant (UM.C/625/1/HIR/088) awarded to P.-E. Lim. This study is also supported by the University of Malaya's Postgraduate Research (PV082-2011B) to S.-W. Poong. The authors thank the referees for their comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Sze-Wan Poong, Phaik-Eem Lim & Siew-Moi Phang

  2. Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Sze-Wan Poong, Phaik-Eem Lim & Siew-Moi Phang

  3. Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Mataram University, Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia

    H. Sunarpi

  4. School of Botany, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia

    John A. West

  5. Kobe University Research Center for Inland Seas, Rokkodai, Kobe, 657-8501, Japan

    Hiroshi Kawai

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  1. Sze-Wan Poong
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  3. Siew-Moi Phang
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Correspondence to Phaik-Eem Lim.

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Poong, SW., Lim, PE., Phang, SM. et al. A molecular-assisted floristic survey of crustose brown algae (Phaeophyceae) from Malaysia and Lombok Island, Indonesia based on rbcL and partial cox1 genes. J Appl Phycol 26, 1231–1242 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0081-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-013-0081-9

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