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Taxonomy of Nephroselmis viridis sp. nov. (Nephroselmidophyceae, Chlorophyta), a sister marine species to freshwater N. olivacea

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Abstract

The genus Nephroselmis (Nephroselmidophyceae), which had been placed in the Prasinophyceae, is one of the primitive green flagellates that are important to our understanding of the early evolution of green plants. We studied a new species of Nephroselmis isolated from Japan, Fiji and South Africa. This species has been known for a long time as undescribed species ‘N. viridis.’ N. viridis possesses some ultrastructural characters shared with only the freshwater type species N. olivacea, including a disc-like structure beneath the pyrenoid and bipolar spiny body scales with 1-5-8-5-1 spines. Molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 18S rDNA also supports a sister relationship between N. viridis and N. olivacea. However, N. viridis is distinguishable from N. olivacea by the shape of its starch sheath, its scales, its pigment composition and its habitat. In this paper, we designate the formal description of N. viridis sp. nov. We also describe variability in the 18S rDNA introns of various N. viridis strains. This detailed study of N. viridis provides some insights into the evolution of Nephroselmis.

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Acknowledgments

The initial stage of this work was done at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Tsukuba, Japan. II is most grateful to Prof. Makoto M. Watanabe for providing an opportunity to stay and work in his laboratory at NIES. RNP warmly acknowledges the help of the staff of the Electron Microscope Unit of the Witwatersrand. This study was financially supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan and the National Research Foundation, South Africa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Haruyo Yamaguchi, Takeshi Nakayama, Mitsuo Chihara & Isao Inouye

  2. Department of Chemistry, Biology and Marine Science, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903–0213, Japan

    Shoichiro Suda

  3. School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Johannesburg, WITS 2050, South Africa

    Richard N. Pienaar

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  1. Haruyo Yamaguchi
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  2. Shoichiro Suda
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  3. Takeshi Nakayama
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  4. Richard N. Pienaar
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  5. Mitsuo Chihara
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  6. Isao Inouye
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Correspondence to Isao Inouye.

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Yamaguchi, H., Suda, S., Nakayama, T. et al. Taxonomy of Nephroselmis viridis sp. nov. (Nephroselmidophyceae, Chlorophyta), a sister marine species to freshwater N. olivacea . J Plant Res 124, 49–62 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-010-0349-y

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