Abstract
The freshwater green algal genera Coleochaete and Chaetosphaeridium form the order Coleochaetales sensu Mattox and Stewart (Charophyceae). To test the monophyly of this order, a data set was compiled consisting of the chloroplast genes rbcL and atpB from nine species of Coleochaete, six strains of Chaetosphaeridium, and other representative green algae and embryophytes. Phylogenetic analyses of these data indicate that Coleochaete and Chaetosphaeridium form a monophyletic group that diverged late in basal streptophyte evolution. By contrast, published analyses of nuclear encoded small subunit ribosomal DNA (rDNA) data for similar taxa do not support a monophyletic Coleochaetales. These analyses suggest Chaetosphaeridium is an early branching lineage within Streptophyta and/or that Chaetosphaeridium forms a lineage with the unicellular flagellate Mesostigma (Mesostigmatophyceae). A close relationship of Chaetosphaeridium and Mesostigma is not supported by the rbcL and atpB data. Reexamination of morphological characters suggests a monophyletic Coleochaetales is supported by several characters that include branching filamentous habit, unicellular apical growth, sheathed hairs, and rotating plastids.
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