A new blue-pigmented hasleoid diatom, Haslea provincialis, from the Mediterranean Sea
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Haslea provincialis Gastineau, Hansen & Mouget, sp. nov., is a new, morphologically semicryptic blue diatom discovered on the
French shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Like H. ostrearia and H. karadagensis, H. provincialis shares the capacity to synthesize a
marennine-like blue pigment. Sexual reproduction between clones of H. provincialis has been repeatedly observed and resulted in
viable initial cells. There were no sexual interactions with sexually competent clones of H. ostrearia or H. karadagensis, as would
be expected for a separate biological species. There are strong similarities between the H. provincialis pigment and the marennine
produced by H. ostrearia, evidenced by UV-visible spectrophotometry and Raman spectrometry. However, unlike the marennine
from H. ostrearia, no differences were found between the extracellular and the intracellular forms of the pigment in H.
provincialis. This indicates that the synthesis pathways and excretion mechanisms among the three ‘blue’ Haslea may be
species-specific. Molecular taxonomy and phylogeny (based on rbcL, cox1 and SSU V4 DNA sequences) confirmed the distinct
position of this species among the blue Haslea species. Haslea provincialis occurs in environments from which H. ostrearia has
already been reported (mostly based on the presence of the blue cell vacuoles). Possible species misidentifications and the impact
of the complex geological history of the Mediterranean Sea on blue diatom diversification are also discussed.
Original language | Danish |
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Journal | European Journal of Phycology |
Volume | 51 |
Pages (from-to) | 156–170 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISSN | 0967-0262 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2016 |
ID: 157462516