Abstract
A new species, Cryptomonas uralensis Martynenko, Gusev, Kulizin & Guseva sp. nov., is described from western slopes of the Ural Mountains (Russia) based on morphological and molecular data. Phylogenetic relationships inferred from nuclear SSU and LSU rDNA sequences show that the new species forms a clade with C. tetrapyrenoidosa Skuja emend. Hoef-Emden & Melkonian. Comparison of secondary structures of nuclear rDNA ITS2, including analysis of Compensatory Base Changes (CBC), confirms the separation between C. uralensis sp. nov. and C. tetrapyrenoidosa. Cell morphology and sizes of C. uralensis sp. nov. are very similar to C. tetrapyrenoidosa and C. pyrenoidifera, and C. uralensis sp. nov. may thus represent a species that can only be reliably identified using molecular data.
Highlights
Cryptophytes are mostly photoautotrophic, unicellular, biflagellate, softbodied protists distributed in diverse freshwater, brackish, and marine habitats
Cryptomonas uralensis sp. nov. differs from the type strain of C. tetrapyrenoidosa by the SSU rDNA, LSU rDNA and internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) rDNA sequences as well as in the secondary structure of ITS2 (Fig. 14)
For ITS2 sequence of C. uralensis sp. nov. four-helix structures could be inferred with long third helices (Fig. 15)
Summary
Cryptophytes ( known as cryptomonads) are mostly photoautotrophic, unicellular, biflagellate, softbodied protists distributed in diverse freshwater, brackish, and marine habitats. They are characterized by a number of morphological and ultrastructural features, including a distinct cellular asymmetry, presence of extrusive organelles (termed ejectosomes), cell-covering from organic compounds Molecular phylogenetic analyses based on nuclear and nucleomorph ribosomal RNA gene sequences demonstrated inconsistencies with traditional Cryptomonas taxonomy based on cell morphology studies by light microscopy (LM). Hoef-Emden & Melkonian (2003) revised the genus by combining phylogenetic analyses with morphological data, emended several species by including molecular data, and described two new species. Cryptomonads from some freshwater habitats in Russia have been studied morphologically, but molecular data is currently lacking. Cryptomonas marssonii Skuja, C. ovata Ehrenb. and C. erosa Ehrenb. have been reported from the Urals based on morphological data
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