A new red colonial Pseudanabaena (Cyanoprokaryota, Oscillatoriales) from North American large lakes.

Abstract

A new morphotype of the genus Pseudanabaena (Cyanoprokaryota, Oscillatoriales) was identified from bloom samples of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae Ralfs ex Bornet et Flahault taken from large central North American water bodies, Lake Winnipeg (LWPG) and Lake of the Woods (LOW), which drains into Lake Winnipeg (Fig. 1) and a strain of this morphotype was isolated from LOW in the fall of 2009. Here we describe the morphology and basic ecology, cytology and phylogenetic position of this new chromatic adaptive and colony forming planktonic species and propose a new species Pseudanabaena rutilus-viridis Kling et al. Preliminary research has indicated that it has the ability to produce the toxin microcystin and further research is under way to assess its ability to produce taste-odour and other toxins and nitrogen-fixing capacity.