Twenty-six strains morphologically identified as Cylindrospermum as well as the closely related taxon Cronbergia siamensis were examined microscopically as well as phylogenetically using sequence data for the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S-23S internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA revealed three distinct clades. The clade we designate as Cylindrospermum sensu stricto contained all five of the foundational species, C. maius, C. stagnale, C. licheniforme, C. muscicola, and C. catenatum. In addition to these taxa, three species new to science in this clade were described: C. badium, C. moravicum, and C. pellucidum. Our evidence indicated that Cronbergia is a later synonym of Cylindrospermum. The phylogenetic position of Cylindrospermum within the Nostocaceae was not clearly resolved in our analyses. Cylindrospermum is unusual among cyanobacterial genera in that the morphological diversity appears to be more evident than sequence divergence. Taxa were clearly separable using morphology, but had very high percent similarity among ribosomal sequences. Given the high diversity we noted in this study, we conclude that there is likely much more diversity remaining to be described in this genus.

Department of Biology John Carroll University University Heights Ohio 44118 USA

Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 31 České Budějovice 370 05 Czech Republic

Institute of Botany of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Dukelská 135 Třeboň 379 82 Czech Republic

Institute of Soil Biology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Na Sádkách 7 České Budějovice 370 05 Czech Republic

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BRY37709, BRY37710, BRY37711, BRY37712, BRY37713, BRY37714, BRY37715, BRY37716, BRY37717, BRY37718, BRY37719, BRY37720, BRY37721, BRY37722, BRY37723, HA04236, KF052599, KF052600, KF052601, KF052604, KF052605, KF052606, KF052607, KF052608, KF052609, KF052610, KF052611, KF052613, KF052614, KF052615, KF052616, KF052617, KF111150, KF111151, KF142524, NC019757