Polykrikos tanit sp. nov., a new mixotrophic unarmoured pseudocolonial dinoflagellate from the NW Mediterranean Sea.
Pigmented pseudocolonies initially identified as Polykrikos hartmannii Zimmermann were detected at several locations of the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea) in April-June of 2012 and April-May of 2013. To further explore the several remarkable morphological discrepancies between these organisms and P. hartmannii, we carried out a detailed morphological study and used single-cell PCR to obtain partial LSU and SSU rDNA sequences. The resulting phylogenies showed that our isolates occupy a basal position within the Polykrikos clade, close to P. hartmannii, but do not correspond to any described polykrikoid species. P. barnegatensis Martin is controversially considered to be synonymous with P. hartmannii. The organisms studied in this work were similar to P. barnegatensis but showed significant morphological differences with its original description such as the torsion of the pseudocolony, more pronounced overhanging of the cingula, stepped fusion border of the zooids, and number and shape of nuclei. Consequently, we propose that the isolates constitute a new species, which we named Polykrikos tanit sp. nov. The observed characters, pigmented, same number of zooids and nuclei, sulci not fused, and its phylogeny suggest that the species is an early evolutionary Polykrikos species.
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona (Spain). Electronic address: albertrene@icm.csic.es.
Albert
A
Reñé
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona (Spain).
Jordi
J
Camp
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona (Spain).
Esther
E
Garcés
D056893:Alveolata / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008853:Microscopy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013030:Spain
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D016053:RNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; C065096:RNA, ribosomal, 26S
Acrobase; Pheopolykrikos; SEM; mixotrophy; phylogeny; single-cell PCR.