Desertifilum salkalinema sp. nov. (Oscillatoriales, Cyanobacteria) from an alkaline pool in China

Abstract

Desertifilum, a filamentous cyanobacterial genus, was initially described from biological crusts in Thar crusts in India. In this study, we isolated a novel cyanobacterial strain (CHAB7200) from a alkaline pool in Zhejiang province, China. The strain showed an identical 16S rRNA gene sequence to Desertifilum tharense, but was distinctly different in cellular morphology, ultrastructure and ecology. In addition, the strain exhibited growth ability at different alkalinities during 4.5 ~ 54 g/L, and the optimum growth was shown at 1% salinity, indicating its stronger tolerance to wider range of alkalinities and salinities than D. tharense. Ecological niche is an important criterion used to separate and define cyanobacterial species. In this case, the strain was proposed as a novel cyanobacterial species, Desertifilum salkalinema. sp. nov.

A bridge too far in naming species: a total evidence approach does not support recognition of four species in Desertifilum (Cyanobacteria)

“…, Cai et al. ). Desertifilum salkalinema was tolerant of a wide range of alkalinities, but D. tharense was not tested.…”

“…, Cai et al. , Sinetova et al. ) is insufficient for comparative morphology as size dimensions can vary with differences in environmental conditions.…”

“…As a case in point in Desertifilum , D. salkalinema is invalid due to inappropriate designation of type (Cai et al. ). The type locality was designated as the type, rather than a herbarium preparation, preserved preparation, or cryopreserved culture, all of which can serve as valid type materials.…”

“…), Desertifilum salkalinema from an alkaline pool in Zhejiang Province, China (Cai et al. ), and Desertifilum dzianense from a crater lake in Mayotte in the Madagascar Channel of the Indian Ocean (Cellamare et al. ).…”

“…The simple filamentous genus Desertifilum was originally described from India's Thar desert crusts with D. tharense as the type species (Dadheech et al 2012). Since then, three additional species have been described: Desertifilum fontinale from a warm spring in Kenya (Dadheech et al 2014), Desertifilum salkalinema from an alkaline pool in Zhejiang Province, China (Cai et al 2017), and Desertifilum dzianense from a crater lake in Mayotte in the Madagascar Channel of the Indian Ocean (Cellamare et al 2018).…”