Finding needles in a haystack-Extensive diversity in the eustigmatophyceae revealed by community metabarcode analysis targeting the rbcL gene using lineage-directed primers.

Sequences from the Stramenopile class Eustigmatophyceae are rarely reported in metabarcoding studies, and when they have been reported, there are very few haplotypes. We hypothesized that the paucity of eustigmatophyte species detected in these studies may be a result of the metabarcoding techniques used, which have primarily employed universal ribosomal RNA gene regions. In this study, we examined environmental DNA samples from 22 sites in southwestern Virginia, some of which had previously been studied using ribosomal RNA analysis.

Identification of Eukaryotic Microalgal Strains.

Proper identification and documentation of microalgae is often lacking in publications of applied phycology, algal physiology and biochemistry. Identification of many eukaryotic microalgae can be very daunting to the non-specialist. We present a systematic process for identifying eukaryotic microalgae using morphological evidence and DNA sequence analysis.

Toward Modern Classification of Eustigmatophytes, Including the Description of Neomonodaceae Fam. Nov. and Three New Genera.

The class Eustigmatophyceae includes mostly coccoid, freshwater algae, although some genera are common in terrestrial habitats and two are primarily marine. The formal classification of the class, developed decades ago, does not fit the diversity and phylogeny of the group as presently known and is in urgent need of revision. This study concerns a clade informally known as the Pseudellipsoidion group of the order Eustigmatales, which was initially known to comprise seven strains with oval to ellipsoidal cells, some bearing a stipe.

Plastid Genomes and Proteins Illuminate the Evolution of Eustigmatophyte Algae and Their Bacterial Endosymbionts.

Eustigmatophytes, a class of stramenopile algae (ochrophytes), include not only the extensively studied biotechnologically important genus Nannochloropsis but also a rapidly expanding diversity of lineages with much less well characterized biology. Recent discoveries have led to exciting additions to our knowledge about eustigmatophytes. Some proved to harbor bacterial endosymbionts representing a novel genus, Candidatus Phycorickettsia, and an operon of unclear function (ebo) obtained by horizontal gene transfer from the endosymbiont lineage was found in the plastid genomes of still other eustigmatophytes.

Observations on the diversity and ecology of freshwater Nannochloropsis (Eustigmatophyceae), with descriptions of new taxa.

The genus Nannochloropsis is well known from the marine environment but has only recently been reported from fresh and brackish waters. A single species, N. limnetica, was first documented from shallow lakes in Germany, where it produced spring blooms.