TY - JOUR
T1 - The species concept in a marine diatom: LSU rDNA–based phylogenetic differentiation in Skeletonema marinoi/dohrnii (Bacillariophyceae) is not reflected in morphology
AU - Ellegaard, Marianne
AU - Godhe, Anna
AU - Härnström, Karolina
AU - McQuoid, Melissa
N1 - KEYWORDS: Diatom, Population, Protist, SEM, TEM
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - The ubiquitous marine diatom genus Skeletonema includes several newly described species. This paper presents a study of morphology and LSU sequence diversity of one of these new species, Skeletonema marinoi. The 15 monoclonal strains (from the Swedish west coast, the Swedish east coast, Portugal and Canada) included in the study showed differences in LSU rDNA sequence within the morphospecies, with differences seen even among clones established from a single plankton net sample. Morphologically, all clones were indistinguishable from each other and from the closely related species Skeletonema dohrnii. In the original description of these two species, they were differentiated by the structure of the girdle bands. However, the girdle band types of both species were found within single samples of almost all clones of S. marinoi in this study. The LSU-based phylogeny is consistent with the split into two species, and there may be a difference in their biogeographical distribution. We therefore do not at present suggest that the two species be merged. Questions regarding species delimitation and cryptic species within protists often arise from such studies that include data from both morphological and DNA sequence analysis, and such questions are addressed here.
AB - The ubiquitous marine diatom genus Skeletonema includes several newly described species. This paper presents a study of morphology and LSU sequence diversity of one of these new species, Skeletonema marinoi. The 15 monoclonal strains (from the Swedish west coast, the Swedish east coast, Portugal and Canada) included in the study showed differences in LSU rDNA sequence within the morphospecies, with differences seen even among clones established from a single plankton net sample. Morphologically, all clones were indistinguishable from each other and from the closely related species Skeletonema dohrnii. In the original description of these two species, they were differentiated by the structure of the girdle bands. However, the girdle band types of both species were found within single samples of almost all clones of S. marinoi in this study. The LSU-based phylogeny is consistent with the split into two species, and there may be a difference in their biogeographical distribution. We therefore do not at present suggest that the two species be merged. Questions regarding species delimitation and cryptic species within protists often arise from such studies that include data from both morphological and DNA sequence analysis, and such questions are addressed here.
U2 - 10.2216/07-09.1
DO - 10.2216/07-09.1
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0031-8884
VL - 47
SP - 156
EP - 167
JO - Phycologia
JF - Phycologia
IS - 2
ER -
