title: Molecular taxonomy of Dunaliella (Chlorophyceae), with a special focus on D. salina: ITS2 sequences revisited with an extensive geographical sampling.
abstract: We used an ITS2 primary and secondary structure and Compensatory Base Changes (CBCs) analyses on new French and Spanish Dunallela salina strains to investigate their phylogenetic position and taxonomic status within the genus Dunaliella. Our analyses show a great diversity within D. salina (with only some clades not statistically supported) and reveal considerable genetic diversity and structure within Dunaliella, although the CBC analysis did not bolster the existence of different biological groups within this taxon. The ITS2 sequences of the new Spanish and French D. salina strains were very similar except for two of them: ITC5105 "Janubio" from Spain and ITC5119 from France. Although the Spanish one had a unique ITS2 sequence profile and the phylogenetic tree indicates that this strain can represent a new species, this hypothesis was not confirmed by CBCs, and clarification of its taxonomic status requires further investigation with new data. Overall, the use of CBCs to define species boundaries within Dunaliella was not conclusive in some cases, and the ITS2 region does not contain a geographical signal overall.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biotecnología, División de Investigación y Desarrollo Tecnológico, Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (ITC), Pozo Izquierdo, 35119 Sta, Lucía, Canary Islands, Spain. pclemente@itccanarias.org.
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Assunção
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jaén-Molina
authors.forename: Juli
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caujapé-Castells
authors.forename: Adelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de la Jara
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Freijanes
authors.forename: Héctor
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mendoza