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Taxonomic study of a new eustigmatophycean alga, Vacuoliviride crystalliferum gen. et sp. nov.

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Abstract

This study investigated the taxonomic affiliation of the algal strain nak-9, which has been reported to absorb radioactive cesium with high efficiency, using light and electron microscopy, and molecular phylogenetic analysis based on 18S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) sequences. This alga is spherical and coccoid, with a smooth cell wall, large vacuole, crystalline structure, reddish globule, and refractile granules (lamellate vesicles). The cells possess one to several greenish parietal chloroplasts with a bulging pyrenoid surrounded by lamellate vesicles. The chloroplasts include orderly thylakoid lamellae but no girdle lamella. Molecular phylogenetic analysis suggests that strain nak-9 is a member of the eustigmatophycean clade, which includes Goniochloris, Pseudostaurastrum, and Trachydiscus. On the basis of these results, we propose that strain nak-9 (NIES-2860) comprises a new species and new genus of the Eustigmatophyceae, Vacuoliviride crystalliferum gen. et sp. nov.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Prof. Yoshihiro Shiraiwa and Dr. Koji Iwamoto (Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba) for their valuable advice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8572, Japan

    Takeshi Nakayama, Akiko Yokoyama, Isao Inouye & Ken-ichiro Ishida

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

    Atsushi Nakamura & Takashi Shiratori

Authors
  1. Takeshi Nakayama
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  2. Atsushi Nakamura
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  3. Akiko Yokoyama
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  4. Takashi Shiratori
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  5. Isao Inouye
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  6. Ken-ichiro Ishida
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takeshi Nakayama.

Additional information

T. Nakayama and A. Nakamura have contributed equally to this work.

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Nakayama, T., Nakamura, A., Yokoyama, A. et al. Taxonomic study of a new eustigmatophycean alga, Vacuoliviride crystalliferum gen. et sp. nov.. J Plant Res 128, 249–257 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-014-0686-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10265-014-0686-3

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