Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast
Foliose species of the genus Ulva are notoriously difficult to identify due to their variable morphological characteristics and high phenotypic plasticity. We reassessed the taxonomic status of several distromatic foliose Ulva spp., morphologically related to Ulva rigida, using DNA barcoding with th...
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PeerJ Inc.
2021-12-01
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| Online Access: | https://peerj.com/articles/11966.pdf |
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| author | Manon Dartois Eric Pante Amélia Viricel Vanessa Becquet Pierre-Guy Sauriau |
| author_facet | Manon Dartois Eric Pante Amélia Viricel Vanessa Becquet Pierre-Guy Sauriau |
| author_sort | Manon Dartois |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Foliose species of the genus Ulva are notoriously difficult to identify due to their variable morphological characteristics and high phenotypic plasticity. We reassessed the taxonomic status of several distromatic foliose Ulva spp., morphologically related to Ulva rigida, using DNA barcoding with the chloroplastic tufA and rbcL (for a subset of taxa) genes for 339 selected attached Ulva specimens collected from three intertidal rocky sites. Two of the collection sites were in Brittany and one site was in Vendée, along the Atlantic coast of France. Molecular analyses included several museum specimens and the holotype of Ulva armoricana Dion, Reviers & Coat. We identified five different tufA haplotypes using a combination of phylogenetic analysis, with the support of several recently sequenced holotypes and lectotypes, and a species delimitation method based on hierarchical clustering. Four haplotypes were supported by validly named species: Ulva australis Areschoug, Ulva fenestrata Postels & Ruprecht, Ulva lacinulata (Kützing) Wittrock and U. rigida C. Agardh. The later was additionally investigated using rbcL. The fifth haplotype represented exact sequence matches to an unnamed species from European Atlantic coasts. Our results support: (1) the synonymy of both U. rigida sensu Bliding non C. Agardh and U. armoricana with U. lacinulata. This finding is based on current genetic analysis of tufA from the U. armoricana holotype and recent molecular characterization of the lectotype of U. laetevirens, which is synonymous to U. australis, (2) the presence of U. australis as a misidentified introduced species in Brittany, and (3) the presence of U. fenestrata and U. rigida in southern Brittany. The taxonomic history of each species is discussed, highlighting issues within distromatic foliose taxa of the genus Ulva and the need to genetically characterize all its available type specimens. |
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| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T07:24:01Z |
| publishDate | 2021-12-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-659440c51d984919b26ffbee42e23bc92023-12-03T07:09:22ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592021-12-019e1196610.7717/peerj.11966Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coastManon Dartois0Eric Pante1Amélia Viricel2Vanessa Becquet3Pierre-Guy Sauriau4Littoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 7266, CNRS - La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, FranceLittoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 7266, CNRS - La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, FranceLittoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 7266, CNRS - La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, FranceLittoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 7266, CNRS - La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, FranceLittoral, Environnement et Sociétés, UMR 7266, CNRS - La Rochelle Université, La Rochelle, FranceFoliose species of the genus Ulva are notoriously difficult to identify due to their variable morphological characteristics and high phenotypic plasticity. We reassessed the taxonomic status of several distromatic foliose Ulva spp., morphologically related to Ulva rigida, using DNA barcoding with the chloroplastic tufA and rbcL (for a subset of taxa) genes for 339 selected attached Ulva specimens collected from three intertidal rocky sites. Two of the collection sites were in Brittany and one site was in Vendée, along the Atlantic coast of France. Molecular analyses included several museum specimens and the holotype of Ulva armoricana Dion, Reviers & Coat. We identified five different tufA haplotypes using a combination of phylogenetic analysis, with the support of several recently sequenced holotypes and lectotypes, and a species delimitation method based on hierarchical clustering. Four haplotypes were supported by validly named species: Ulva australis Areschoug, Ulva fenestrata Postels & Ruprecht, Ulva lacinulata (Kützing) Wittrock and U. rigida C. Agardh. The later was additionally investigated using rbcL. The fifth haplotype represented exact sequence matches to an unnamed species from European Atlantic coasts. Our results support: (1) the synonymy of both U. rigida sensu Bliding non C. Agardh and U. armoricana with U. lacinulata. This finding is based on current genetic analysis of tufA from the U. armoricana holotype and recent molecular characterization of the lectotype of U. laetevirens, which is synonymous to U. australis, (2) the presence of U. australis as a misidentified introduced species in Brittany, and (3) the presence of U. fenestrata and U. rigida in southern Brittany. The taxonomic history of each species is discussed, highlighting issues within distromatic foliose taxa of the genus Ulva and the need to genetically characterize all its available type specimens.https://peerj.com/articles/11966.pdfIntegrative taxonomyDNA barcodingPhenotypic plasticityAlgal bloomGreen tidesUlva spp. |
| spellingShingle | Manon Dartois Eric Pante Amélia Viricel Vanessa Becquet Pierre-Guy Sauriau Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast PeerJ Integrative taxonomy DNA barcoding Phenotypic plasticity Algal bloom Green tides Ulva spp. |
| title | Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast |
| title_full | Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast |
| title_fullStr | Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast |
| title_full_unstemmed | Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast |
| title_short | Molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to Ulva rigida at three sites along the French Atlantic coast |
| title_sort | molecular genetic diversity of seaweeds morphologically related to ulva rigida at three sites along the french atlantic coast |
| topic | Integrative taxonomy DNA barcoding Phenotypic plasticity Algal bloom Green tides Ulva spp. |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/11966.pdf |
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