Abstract
Charophytes are aquatic green macroalgae, which inhabit fresh and brackish water ecosystems. In this study, four species belonging to the genus Chara were examined to determine their taxonomic status. Morphological characteristics of the plant bodies as well as plastid psaB barcoding genes were applied to test the relations among Chara species. Plants were initially classified using morphological features into four species: C. baltica, C. hispida, C. polyacantha and C. rudis, and twelve quantitative characters were used in a principal component analysis and discriminant analysis to determine groupings among the species and to determine the morphological features that best separated the groups. In the component analysis and discriminant analysis, results showed that only C. polyacantha and partly C. baltica formed separate groups. The other species C. hispida and C. rudis were only partially distinguishable. All species from one molecular group, and no differentiation in the psaB variability between them has been found.
Highlights
Macroscopic algae from the genus Chara L. can be commonly found in various water bodies, such as shallow lakes, artificial ponds, slowly running waters or drainage canals
The taxonomy of the genus Chara, as well as the other representatives of the Characeae family is not easy, mostly due to the overlapping of morphological features of individual specimens belonging to different species
The studied plants were monoecious with stipulodes in two rows with spine cells shorter than the axis diameter (C. baltica) or with spine cells longer or as long as the axis (C. hispida, C. polyacantha, C. rudis)
Summary
Macroscopic algae from the genus Chara L. can be commonly found in various water bodies, such as shallow lakes, artificial ponds, slowly running waters or drainage canals. The taxonomy of the genus Chara, as well as the other representatives of the Characeae family is not easy, mostly due to the overlapping of morphological features of individual specimens belonging to different species
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