Two populations of Rivularia-like cyanobacteria were isolated from ecologically distinct and biogeographically distant sites. One population was from an unpolluted stream in the Kola Peninsula of Russia, whereas the other was from a wet wall in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, a desert park-land in Utah. Though both were virtually indistinguishable from Rivularia in field and cultured material, they were both phylogenetically distant from Rivularia and the Rivulariaceae based on both 16S rRNA and rbcLX phylogenies. We here name the new cryptic genus Cyanomargarita gen. nov., with type species C. melechinii sp. nov., and additional species C. calcarea sp. nov. We also name a new family for these taxa, the Cyanomargaritaceae.
- MeSH
- bakteriální proteiny genetika MeSH
- DNA bakterií genetika MeSH
- druhová specificita MeSH
- fylogeneze * MeSH
- RNA ribozomální 16S genetika MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- sinice klasifikace cytologie genetika MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Rusko MeSH
- Utah MeSH
Historically, the genus Calothrix included all noncolonial, tapered, heterocytous filaments within the cyanobacteria. However, recent molecular phylogenies show that "Calothrix" defined in this sense represents five distinct clades. The type species of Calothrix is marine, with solitary basal heterocytes, no akinetes, and distal ends tapering abruptly into short hairs. We examined the morphology and phylogeny of 45 tapering cyanobacteria in the Rivulariaceae, including freshwater and marine representatives of both Calothrix (35 strains) and its sister taxon Rivularia (10 strains). The marine Calothrix fall into two lineages, but we lack the generitype and so cannot identify the clade corresponding to the type species. The freshwater and soil Calothrix fall into the C. parietina clade and are characterized by having a basal heterocyte, no akinetes, and gradual tapering-but not into a long hyaline hair. Macrochaete gen. nov. is a freshwater taxon sister to the Calothrix lineages but clearly separated from Rivularia. The species in this genus differ morphologically from Calothrix by their ability to produce two heteromorphic basal heterocytes and specific secondary structures of the 16S-23S ITS. An additional feature present in most species is the presence of a distal, long hyaline hair, but this character has incomplete penetrance due to its expression only under specific environmental conditions (low phosphate), and in one species appears to be lost. We recognize three species: M. psychrophila (type species) from cold environments (high mountains, Antarctica), M. santannae from wet walls of subtropical South America, and M. lichenoides, a phycobiont of lichens from Europe.
