Monosiphonous growth and cell-death in an unusual Bostrychia (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta): B. anomala sp. nov.

West, John A.,Loiseaux de Goer, Susan,Zuccarello, Giuseppe C. The Korean Society of Phycology 2013 ALGAE Vol.28 No.2

A morphologically distinct lineage within the Bostrychia moritziana-B. radicans species complex is described as a new species. Bostrychia anomala has thalli with branched monosiphonous filaments with apical cell divisions. The species has terminal tetrasporangial stichidia, each subtending cell bearing tetrasporangia with 2 cover cells. Discharged spores divide transversely, the lower cell first forming a narrow rhizoid and the upper cell forming a monosiphonous shoot. Females have subterminal procarps and males have terminal spermatangial stichidia. Carposporophytes are spherical. Isolates in culture show a pattern of cell death not associated with injury, reminiscent of programmed cell death. Bostrychia anomola shows cell death at intervals along the filaments resulting in division of adjacent cells on either side of the dead cell re-joining the filament; cell division of only one adjacent cell resulting in branching at that site; or filaments fragmenting at the cell death point with adjacent cells forming new apical cells, a means of thallus propagation. The cell death pattern could be a method of filament propagation in the mangrove environment where sexual reproduction is rare.

A new species of Bangiopsis: B. franklynottii sp. nov. (Stylonematophyceae, Rhodophyta) from Australia and India and comments on the genus

West, John A.,de Goer, Susan Loiseaux,Zuccarello, Giuseppe C. The Korean Society of Phycology 2014 ALGAE Vol.29 No.2

Small red algae, especially those previously referred to as 'primitive' are often overlooked, but can be quite abundant. These 'primitive' red algae are now placed in several classes distinct from the Florideophyceae, for example the Stylonematophyceae. A brownish-red filamentous alga was collected from a sandy tide pool at Cape Tribulation, Queensland, Australia. Cultured specimens were identified as Bangiopsis and conformed to the morphological characters of the genus (multicellular base, erect filaments branched or unbranched, uniseriate to multiseriate-tubular, single multilobed purple-red to red-brown plastid with central pyrenoid, vegetative cells released directly as spores). Molecular data of two plastid genes (rbcL, psbA) support placement of the Australian isolate and isolates from India in Bangiopsis. The genetic variation between these isolates and isolates from Puerto Rico previously attributed to B. subsimplex indicates that these should be considered as a separate species. As the type locality is in the Atlantic Ocean, French Guiana, and not far from Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Rican isolate has been used often in phylogenetic analyses, we propose that the Indian and Pacific Ocean isolates be designated a new species, B. franklynottii, to acknowledge Ott's many years of research on inconspicuous freshwater and marine red algae. Our research also highlights the lack of careful descriptions in many of the records of this genus and the lack of morphological characters to distinguish species. Especially within the morphologically simple red algae, morphological distinctness does not necessarily reflect evolutionary divergences.

Observations on some mangrove-associated algae from the western Pacific (Guam, Chuuk, Kosrae, and Pohnpei)

West, John A.,Kamiya, Mitsunobu,Loiseaux de Goer, Susan,Karsten, Ulf,Zuccarello, Giuseppe C. The Korean Society of Phycology 2013 ALGAE Vol.28 No.3

The mangrove algal flora of Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia has been poorly explored. We add to our knowledge of this region by observations of collections from these regions. This paper presents new and additional records of: Rhodophyta-Acrochaetium globosum, Colaconema sp., Caulacanthus indicus, Bostrychia moritziana / B. radicans, B. radicosa, B. simpliciuscula, B. kelanensis and B. tenella, Murrayella periclados, and Caloglossa ogasawaraensis; Chlorophyta-Boodleopsis carolinensis; and Phaeophyceae-Dictyota adnata, Dictyotopsis propagulifera, and Canistrocarpus cervicornis. Most specimens were cultured to investigate their reproductive biology and many specimens were further identified using molecular data. Low molecular weight carbohydrates (dulcitol, sorbitol, and digeneaside) were identified in samples of B. radicosa and B. simpliciuscula. We also present data on manganese-rich deposits found on B. simpliciuscula and B. tenella in culture, possibly formed by epiphytic bacteria.

Rosenvingea orientalis (Scytosiphonaceae, Phaeophyceae) from Chiapas, Mexico: life history in culture and molecular phylogeny

West, John A.,Zuccarello, Giuseppe C.,Pedroche, Francisco F.,De Goer, Susan Loiseaux The Korean Society of Phycology 2010 ALGAE Vol.25 No.4

The genus Rosenvingea is well known in the tropics. Four species have been reported from Pacific Mexico: R. floridana, R. antillarum, R. intricata and R. sanctae-crucis. We collected a plant (Boca del Cielo, Chiapas) that we identified as Rosenvingea orientalis, a species not previously reported from Pacific Mexico. We were able to characterize the life cycle of this species for the first time in laboratory culture. It reproduced exclusively by plurilocular sporangia (plurangia). The mature plants were up to 6 cm long with cylindrical to compressed fronds (to 2 mm wide) with dichotomous branches in the upper half of the thallus. The medulla was hollow with 2-3 layers of large inflated colourless cells at the periphery. The cortex was comprised of 1 layer of small cells, each with a single chloroplast and pyrenoid. Linear plurangial sori with phaeophycean hairs formed along the mature fronds. Zoospore germlings developed into prostrate filamentous systems, each with a single phaeophycean hair that gave rise to a single erect shoot with multiple hairs arising near the tip. Molecular phylogeny using the psaA gene placed this isolate within the Scytosiphonaceae. It does not confirm the exact identification of R. orientalis, although its placement close to other Rosenvingea sequences was confirmed and morphological evidence supports its placement in R. orientalis. Our culture investigations indicated that it has an asexual life cycle. Further collections are needed to resolve the full generic and specific relationships of Rosenvingea and related taxa, and their reproductive patterns.

Viator vitreocola gen. et sp. nov. (Stylonematophyceae), a new red alga on drift glass debris in Oregon and Washington, USA

Hansen, Gayle I.,West, John A.,Yoon, Hwan Su,Goodman, Christopher D.,Goer, Susan Loiseaux-de,Zuccarello, Giuseppe C. The Korean Society of Phycology 2019 ALGAE Vol.34 No.2

A new encrusting red alga was found growing abundantly on glass debris items that drifted ashore along the coasts of Oregon and Washington. These included discarded fluorescent tubes, incandescent light bulbs, capped liquor bottles, and ball-shaped fishing-net floats. Field collections and unialgal cultures of the alga revealed that it consisted of two morphological phases: a young loosely aggregated turf and a mature consolidated mucilaginous crust. The turf phase consisted of a basal layer of globose cells that produced erect, rarely branched, uniseriate to multiseriate filaments up to $500{\mu}m$ long with closely spaced cells lacking pit-plugs. These filaments expanded in size from their bases to their tips and released single cells as spores. At maturity, a second phase of growth occurred that produced a consolidated crust, up to $370{\mu}m$ thick. It consisted of a basal layer of small, tightly appressed ellipsoidal-to-elongate cells that generated a mucilaginous perithallial matrix containing a second type of filament with irregularly spaced cells often undergoing binary division. At the matrix surface, the original filaments continued to grow and release spores but often also eroded. Individual cells, examined using confocal microscopy and SYBR Green staining, were found to contain a central nucleus, a single highly lobed peripheral chloroplast without a pyrenoid, and numerous chloroplast nucleoids. Morphological data from field and culture isolates and molecular data (rbcL, psbA, and SSU) show that this alga is a new genus and species which we name Viator vitreocola, "a traveller on glass."

Lemanea manipurensis sp. nov. (Batrachospermales), a freshwater red algal species from North-East India

Ganesan, E.K.,West, J.A.,Zuccarello, G.C.,de Goer, S. Loiseaux,Rout, J. The Korean Society of Phycology 2015 ALGAE Vol.30 No.1

A new macroscopic riverine red algal species, Lemanea manipurensis sp. nov. (Batrachospermales) is described from Manipur in northeast India. It has a sparsely branched, pseudoparenchymatous thallus with a single, central axial filament that lacks cortical filaments. Spermatangia occur generally in isolated, low and indistinct patches or form an almost continuous ring around the axis. Carposporophytes project into the hollow thallus cavity without an ostiole. The most striking morphological feature is the carposporophyte with very short gonimoblast filaments having cylindrical, narrow and sparsely branched sterile filaments, the terminal cell of each branch with a single, large, elongate carpospore. The widely distributed L. fluviatilis has spherical carpospores in long branched chains. Phylogenetic analysis of rbcL sequence data and comparison with other Batrachospermales clearly show that our specimens do not align with other species of Lemanea and Paralemanea investigated thus far. Five specific names attributed in previous literature (1973-2014) to Lemanea from Manipur, L. australis, L. catenata, L. fluviatilis, L. mamillosa, and L. torulosa are rejected until critical anatomical and molecular evidence is available for specimens from the Manipur river systems. Taxa referable to Paralemanea were not confirmed for India in this study. In view of the high demand for food and medical uses of L. manipurensis in northeast India, conservation measures are needed for its long term survival. The present paper constitutes the first combined morphological / molecular study on a freshwater red alga from India.

Morphological and molecular evidence for the recognition of Hypoglossum sabahense sp. nov. (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta) from Sabah, Malaysia

Wynne, Michael J.,Kamiya, Mitsunobu,West, John A.,Goer, Susan Loiseaux-de,Lim, Phaik-Eem,Sade, Ahemad,Russell, Hannah,Kupper, Frithjof C. The Korean Society of Phycology 2020 ALGAE Vol.35 No.2

Culture isolates of the genus Hypoglossum (Delesseriaceae, Rhodophyta) were obtained and their development and morphological structure over many years were followed in the laboratory. Molecular data (rbcL, large subunit ribosomal DNA, and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I) were obtained from these strains and evidence presented to recognize the new species: Hypoglossum sabahense from Sabah, Malaysia. Because various aspects of morphology in culture specimens differ significantly from types based on field specimens we have to rely mainly on the molecular criteria in ascribing a new taxonomic name here. This also is complicated by the major lack of molecular phylogenetic evidence for Hypoglossum and other Delesseriaceae. The 'Germling Emergence Method' and 'serendipity' are proving valuable in discovering significant new taxa from laboratory cultures which otherwise might never be known.

Thorea indica sp. nov. (Thoreales, Rhodophyta) from Uttar Pradesh, India

Necchi, Orlando Jr,Paiano, Monica O.,West, John A.,Ganesan, E. K.,Goer, Susan Loiseaux-de The Korean Society of Phycology 2015 ALGAE Vol.30 No.4

Thorea indica sp. nov. is described from the Sai River, Uttar Pradesh, India (26°39′00.7″ N, 80°47′38.3″ E). Its classification is based on molecular sequences of the plastid-encoded RuBisCO large-subunit gene, rbcL and the barcode region of the mitochondrial encoded cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1, cox1, and morphological data. The sequence analyses confirm a new species of Thorea. The cox1 barcode sequence had 90.4-90.8% identity with Thorea sp. from Australia and Thorea hispida from Hawaii and China. Based on rbcL sequences the Indian specimen was positioned in a major clade with high support (>95 bootstrap and 0.95 posterior probability) containing two other species: T. okadae from Japan and T. hispida from the continental USA, Hawaii, the UK, and China. The divergences among these sequences were T. indica vs. T. okadae (2.8%) and T. indica vs. T. hispida (2.9-3.4%). The comparison of morphological characters of Thorea from India was not conclusive due to the inadequate descriptions in previous reports: most specimens reported as T. hispida fit within the circumscription of T. indica as described here. The previous report of T. siamensis from the Sai River is incorrect and the specimens fit within our description of T. indica. Thorea indica and T. okadae can be distinguished by minor morphometric characters and sexuality (dioecious vs. monoecious).

On the genus Rhodella, the emended orders Dixoniellales and Rhodellales with a new order Glaucosphaerales (Rhodellophyceae, Rhodophyta)[Author's correction]

Scott, Joe,Yang, Eun-Chan,West, John A.,Yokoyama, Akiko,Kim, Hee-Jeong,De Goer, Susan Loiseaux,O'Kelly, Charles J.,Orlova, Evguenia,Kim, Su-Yeon,Park, Jeong-Kwang,Yoon, Hwan-Su The Korean Society of Phycology 2012 ALGAE Vol.27 No.1

Erythrolobus australicus sp. nov. (Porphyridiophyceae, Rhodophyta): a description based on several approaches

Yang, Eun-Chan,Scot, Joe,West, John A.,Yoon, Hwan-Su,Yokoyama, Akiko,Karsten, Ulf,De Goer, Susan Loiseaux,Orlova, Evguenia The Korean Society of Phycology 2011 ALGAE Vol.26 No.2

The unicellular marine red alga Erythrolobus australicus sp. nov. (Porphyridiophyceae) was isolated into laboratory culture from mangroves in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. The single multi-lobed red to rose-red plastid has more than one pyrenoid and lacks a peripheral thylakoid. Arrays of small electron dense globules occur along the thylakoids. The nucleus is peripheral with a central to eccentric nucleolus. Each Golgi body is associated with a mitochondrion. The spherical cells are positively phototactic with slow gliding movement. The psaA + psbA phylogeny clearly showed that E. australicus is a distinct species, which is closely related to E. coxiae. The chemotaxonomically relevant and most abundant low molecular weight carbohydrate in E. australicus is floridoside with concentrations between 209 and 231 ${\mu}mol g^{-1}$ dry weight. Traces of digeneaside were also detected. These various approaches help to understand the taxonomic diversity of unicellular red algae.