Species diversity of the genus Osmundea (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta) in the Macaronesian region.

Species diversity within the genus Osmundea in the Macaronesian region was explored by conducting a comprehensive sampling in the Azores, the Canary, and the Madeira archipelagos. Toward identification, all specimens were first observed alive to verify the absence of corps en cerise, a diagnostic character for the genus and morphometric data were measured (thallus length and width, first-order branches length and width, branchlets length and width, cortical cell length and width in surface view, cortical cell length and width in transverse section). Specimens were sequenced for COI-5P (39 specimens) and three species delimitation methods (Generalized Mixed Yule Coalescent, Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery method, and Poisson Tree Processes) were used to assess the threshold between infra- and interspecific relationships.

CE-MS fingerprinting of Laurencia complex algae (Rhodophyta).

The use of CE-ESI-MS has been considered as a new chemical strategy for the possible discernment of genera and species of the Laurencia complex. After the selection of the CE-MS and the extraction conditions, a total of 28 specimens of the complex, including different species of four genera (Laurencia, Laurenciella, Palisada, and Osmundea) collected from five intertidal locations on the Island of Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) were analyzed. CE-MS fingerprints revealed that CE-MS can be used as a useful tool for these studies in order to assess similarities and differences between them and that it constitutes an important starting point for further studies in the field.

Synchroma grande spec. nov. (Synchromophyceae class. nov., Heterokontophyta): an amoeboid marine alga with unique plastid complexes.

Chromist algae including the Heterokontophyta are supposed to have evolved monophyletically by secondary endosymbiosis from a eukaryotic host cell that engulfed a eukaryotic red alga. The red algal endosymbiont was then reduced to a secondary plastid surrounded by four enveloping membranes. On the basis of the amoeboid marine alga Synchroma grande gen.