Diversity of the genus Brasilonema (Nostocales, Cyanobacteria) in plant nurseries of central Florida (USA) with the description of three new species: B. fioreae sp. nov., B. santannae sp. nov. and B. wernerae sp. nov.

Abstract

Florida is a diverse region that supports abundant cyanobacterial diversity, especially in terrestrial environments. To exploit this environment for cyanobacterial diversity, several greenhouses from central Florida were sampled to identify common nuisance and contaminating algae. Most of the algae observed were mat forming, covering nursery pots, plants, and equipment which were macro-and microscopically morphologically analogous to Brasilonema. Although macroscopic thallus morphology was similar among the samples, microscopic morphological characteristics such as size, color, and sheath formation were disparate. To uncover the cryptic diversity, mats were processed for species isolation, culture, and molecular taxonomic identification. A total of eleven Brasilonema strains were isolated into culture and systematically identified using 16S rRNA and 16S-23S rRNA ITS sequences. Based on morphology and molecular data, five species of Brasilonema were found and three are new to science: B. fioreae, B. santannae, and B. wernerae.

Insights into the phylogenetic inconsistencies of the genus Amazonocrinis and description of epilithic Amazonocrinis malviyae sp. nov. (Cyanobacteria, Nostocales) from Jammu and Kashmir, India

“…With an aim to fully characterize strain 19C-PS T , sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and the 16S–23S ITS region was performed and the resulting phylogenetic trees were analysed. It is well known from our previous experiences and that of others [5, 7–17, 32] that these two markers have proven to be effective in understanding the taxonomic complexities of the genus Nostoc and its morphotypic genera. The 16S rRNA gene tree in our phylogeny was reconstructed using 270 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from Nostocales and was found to be almost in coherence with the above-mentioned studies and the genera Mojavia , Desmonostoc , Halotia , Aliinostoc , Komarekiella , Compactonostoc , Desikacharya , Purpureonostoc , Violetonostoc , Parakomarekiella , Pseudoaliinostoc , Atlanticothrix and Dendronalium occupied distinct monophyletic positions ().…”

Tolyporphins–Exotic Tetrapyrrole Pigments in a Cyanobacterium—A Review

“…The genus Brasilonema was first described only 16 years ago by Fiore as a genus apart from that of Scytonema [82]. Since then, other Brasilonema species have been identified [83,84]; indeed, at the time of this writing, a Web of Science search (all databases) for "cyanobacteria and brasilonema" resulted in 62 hits. (3) The 16S rRNA sequence of the HT-58-2 cyanobacterium showed close alignment with the proposed Brasilonema clade and not with the Tolypothrix clade.…”

“…The genus Brasilonema was first described only 16 years ago by Fiore as a genus apart from that of Scytonema [ 82 ]. Since then, other Brasilonema species have been identified [ 83 , 84 ]; indeed, at the time of this writing, a Web of Science search (all databases) for “cyanobacteria and brasilonema” resulted in 62 hits.…”

Underestimated cyanobacterial diversity: trends and perspectives of research in tropical environments

“…Echoing this debate, cyanobacterial researchers are increasingly willing to erect new genera based on putatively endemic organisms (e.g., Flechtner et al 2002;Casamatta et al 2006). For example, the genus Brasilonema, originally described from Brazil (Fiore et al 2007), has been found to have wider distribution (Becerra-Absalon et al 2013;Vaccarino & Johansen 2012;Villanueva et al 2019a;Barbosa et al 2021). Moreover, studies show that the distribution pattern may rather be taxa specific and any general pattern cannot be drawn among the cyanobacteria.…”