Shifting Boundaries: Ecological and Geographical Range extension Based on Three New Species in the Cyanobacterial Genera Cyanocohniella, Oculatella, and, Aliterella

Abstract

The polyphasic approach has been widely applied in cyanobacterial taxonomy, which frequently led to additions to the species inventory. Increasing our knowledge about species and the habitats they were isolated from enables new insights into the ecology of newly established genera and species allowing speculations about the ecological niche of taxa. Here, we are describing three new species belonging to three genera that broadens the ecological amplitude and the geographical range of each of the three genera. Cyanocohniella crotaloides sp. nov. is described from sandy beach mats of the temperate island Schiermonnikoog, Netherlands, Oculatella crustae-formantes sp. nov. was isolated from biological soil crusts of the Arctic Spitsbergen, Norway, and Aliterella chasmolithica originated from granitic stones of the arid Atacama Desert, Chile. All three species could be separated from related species using molecular sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and 16S-23S ITS gene region, the resulting secondary structures as well as p-distance analyses of the 16S-23S ITS and various microscopic techniques. The novel taxa described in this study contribute to a better understanding of the diversity of the genera Cyanocohniella, Oculatella, and Aliterella in different habitats.

Biodiversity of Algae and Cyanobacteria in Biological Soil Crusts Collected Along a Climatic Gradient in Chile Using an Integrative Approach

“…Several new cyanobacteria were recently described from the Atacama Desert: Kastovskya, Symplocastrum, Myxacorys, Trichocoleus and Oculatella species [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ]. The most recent is a study by Jung et al [ 28 ] which investigated the diversity of hypolithic and edaphic cyanobacteria in two study areas, hyperarid Pan de Azúcar and the semiarid area of the Nature Reserve Santa Gracia; the authors reported 21 cyanobacterial species and the new species Aliterella chasmolithica [ 29 ].…”

Emendation of the Coccoid Cyanobacterial Genus Gloeocapsopsis and Description of the New Species Gloeocapsopsis diffluens sp. nov. and Gloeocapsopsis dulcis sp. nov. Isolated From the Coastal Range of the Atacama Desert (Chile)

“…In this site a recently reported grit crust (a transitional stage between a biocrust and a saxicolous community made of lichens, fungi, and algae growing attached to the granitoid substrate) covers the ground forming blackish patterns ( Jung et al, 2020a ). From this area, only a few cyanobacteria, such as Kastovskya adunca , Pleurocapsa sp., Chroococcidiopsis sp., Pseudophormidium sp., Nostoc sp., and the recently described Aliterella chasmolithica ( Jung et al, 2020b ), have been reported to appear in the aridisol as well as hypolithic and chasmoendolithic biofilms attached to exposed granite and quartz pebbles ( Jung et al, 2019 ).…”

“…Genomic DNA of Gloeocapsopsis sp. PJ S16 was extracted from unialgal cultures as described by Jung et al (2020b) . Nucleotide sequences of the 16S rRNA gene together with the 16S–23S ITS region (1,700–2,300 bases) were amplified as described by Marin et al (2005) using the primers SSU-4-forw and ptLSU C-D-rev.…”

Opening the Gap: Rare Lichens With Rare Cyanobionts – Unexpected Cyanobiont Diversity in Cyanobacterial Lichens of the Order Lichinales

“…In general, the taxonomy of cyanobacteria is perplexed [reviewed in Mareš (2018)], and many questions are left unanswered. Part of the issue is that many studies focus on cyanobacteria from aquatic habitats, while those from terrestrial ecosystems are less intensively studied, although they could close taxonomic gaps at the same time (Osorio-Santos et al, 2014) or broaden the biogeography of established genera (Jung et al, 2020b). Here specific cyanolichens and their photobionts have the potential to widen our view on cyanobacterial taxa involved in lichen symbiosis because the great majority of known symbiotic photobionts belong to filamentous, heterocytous cyanobacterial genera such as Nostoc (e.g., in Collema, Lempholemma, Leptogium, Pannaria, and Peltigera), Scytonema (e.g., in Heppia), Stigonema (e.g., in Stereocaulon), Rhizonema (e.g., in Dictyonema and Lichinodium), or Macrochaete (e.g., in Placynthium).…”