As the global demand for the carrageenophyte Kappaphycus is steadily increasing, its overall productivity, carrageenan quality, and disease resistance are gradually declining. In the face of this dilemma, wild Kappaphycus populations are viewed as sources of new cultivars that could potentially enhance production; therefore, assessment of their diversity is crucial. This study highlights the morphological and genetic diversity of wild Kappaphycus species obtained from two sites in the Philippines. Nucleotide alignments of available 5′ region of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI-5P) and cox2-3 spacer sequences of Kappaphycus confirmed the presence of K. alvarezii in Guiuan, Eastern Samar and K. striatus in Bolinao, Pangasinan. Based on the concatenated sequences of the COI-5P and the cox2-3 spacer, nine novel haplotypes were observed along with other published haplotypes. However, there was no relationship between haplotype and morphology. These newly recognized haplotypes indicate a reservoir of unutilized wild genotypes in the Philippines, which could be taken advantage of in developing new cultivars with superior traits. DNA barcodes generated from this study effectively expand the existing databank of Kappaphycus sequences and can provide insights in elucidating the genetic diversity of Kappaphycus species in the country.

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The known morphological features in identifying common species of foliose Bangiales (e.g., members of Pyropia and Porphyra), which are very few and often overlapping, are recently resolved using comparative analysis of DNA sequences and statistics.  Records of foliose Bangiales in the Philippines were historically identified based on morphology. Considering the recent radical changes in the taxonomy among these rhodophytes and problems posed by morphology-based identification, taxonomic re-appraisal of Philippine foliose Bangiales based on critical morphological and molecular studies is needed.  This study used plastid rbcL and mitochondrial COI-5P gene sequences to investigate the identity of foliose Bangiales collected in Palaui Is., Sta. Ana, Cagayan, Philippines. Observation of key phenotypes revealed the identity of the collected materials as Py. tanegashimensis. Resulting phylogenetic trees showed placement of our collected specimens into a highly supported Py. tanegashimensis clade from Japan and Brazil. Our molecular analysis also suggested that the Philippine Py. tanegashimensis includes endemic populations distinct from the introduced strain originally reported from Brazil.