Phylogenetic relationships of Polysiphonia (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) and its relatives based on anatomical and nuclear small-subunit rDNA sequence data

Abstract

The aim of this study was to reassess monophyly of the genus Polysiphonia and determine the phylogenetic affinities of its component lineages among related red algae belonging to the Rhodomelaceae. Our "total evidence" approach, combining 28 anatomical characters and small-subunit ribosomal DNA sequence data for 25 ceramialean algae including 14 species of Polysiphonia sensu lato (including two species of the recently described genus Neosiphonia) and nine related Rhodomelaceae, indicates that Polysiphonia sensu lato consists of three strongly supported clades, Polysiphonia group, Neosiphonia group, and a "multipericentral" group, and a single taxon lineage consisting of Womersleyella setacea. The type species of the genus, Polysiphonia urceolata (= Polysiphonia stricta) from the north Atlantic, formed a distinct clade with Polysiphonia morrowii and Polysiphonia pacifica from the northwest and northeast Pacific, respectively. The Neosiphonia group included Neosiphonia japonica and Neosiphonia savatieri from the northwest Pacific, as originally proposed, Polysiphonia harveyi from the north Atlantic, which shares diagnostic features with this genus, and the anomalous Polysiphonia elongata and Polysiphonia virgata from the north Atlantic and South Africa, respectively. Boergeseniella and Vertebrata from the north Atlantic and Enelittosiphonia from the northwest Pacific associated solidly with the multipericentral Polysiphonia fucoides and Polysiphonia nigra from the north Atlantic. The implications for the taxonomy of Polysiphonia sensu lato and related genera within the Rhodomelaceae are discussed.Key words: Neosiphonia, nuclear small-subunit rDNA, phylogeny, Polysiphonia, Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta, systematics.