Fottea, 2021 (vol. 21), issue 1
Description of Gomphothidium gen. nov., with light and scanning electron microscopy: A New Freshwater Monoraphid Diatom Genus from Asia
John Patrick Kociolek, Qingmin You, Pan Yu, Yanling Li, Yanlu Wang, Rex Lowe, Quanxi Wang
Fottea 2021, 21(1):1-7 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.011 
We describe a new genus of monoraphid diatom based on Achnanthidium ovatum T.Watanabe et Tuji in Watanabe et al., a species described originally from Japan. We encountered this species from Yunnan Province in the southwestern part to eastern China, as well as in Luding, Sichuan Province and Xianju, Zhejiang Province, in pristine lotic environments. The species differs from the genus Achnanthidium by being asymmetrical to the transapical axis and has a pseudoseptum at the poles of the interior of the raphe valve which is fused with each helictoglossa. Moreover, a distinct group of condensed striae can be found at the narrower pole ('footpole')...
Mychonastes frigidus sp. nov. (Sphaeropleales/Chlorophyceae), a new species described from a mountain stream in the Subpolar Urals (Russia)
Elena Patova, Irina Novakovskaya, Nikita Martynenko, Evgeniy Gusev, Maxim Kulikovskiy
Fottea 2021, 21(1):8-15 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.012
This paper describes a new species from the Class Chlorophyceae, Mychonastes frigidus sp. nov., isolated from a cold-water mountain stream in the north of Russia (Subpolar Ural). The taxon is described using morphological and molecular methods. Mychonastes frigidus sp. nov. belongs to the group of species of the genus Mychonastes with spherical single cells. Comparison of ITS2 rDNA sequences and its secondary structures combined with the compensatory base changes approach confirms the separation between Mychonastes frigidus sp. nov and other species of the genus. Mychonastes frigidus sp. nov....
New and interesting freshwater diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) from a biodiversity hotspot area in China
Yan Liu, John Patrick Kociolek, Quanxi Wang, Lixin Li, Yawen Fan
Fottea 2021, 21(1):16-33 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.013
Biodiversity "hotspot" areas have been shown to possess unique diatom floras. During our diatom studies of some of these types of areas in China, samples were collected from Hainan and Guangdong Provinces, and four species from 4 different genera are proposed as new to science based on LM and SEM observations. These new taxa are Eunotia dinghunsis Liu & Kociolek, sp. nov., Brachysira subirawanae Kociolek & Liu, sp. nov., Microcostatus muscus Liu & Kociolek, sp. nov. and Iconella sanyatangum Liu & Kociolek, sp. nov. In addition, a species known previously only from Java and Sumatra, Pinnularia rivularis...
Luticola rojkoviensis sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta), a new terrestrial diatom from Central Slovakia
Alica Hindáková, Teresa Noga
Fottea 2021, 21(1):34-43 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.014
Sampling of fungi in a grassland on a hill in Rojkov, Central Slovakia, revealed a new species of Luticola (Diadesmidaceae). Its terrestrial populations were found close to the basis of the fertile part of the geoglossoid fungi (Geoglossaceae) that were overgrown with filamentous cyanobacteria of the orders Oscillatoriales and Synechococcales. Luticola rojkoviensis sp. nov. is characterized by the valve outline and the structure of the external valve face: valves are weakly dorsiventrally asymmetrical, rhombic-lanceolate in larger cells to rhombic-elliptic and tri-undulate in smaller cells, with shortly protracted and broadly rounded...
Neochroococcus gongqingensis gen. et sp. nov., a new member of coccoid cyanobacteria from a watercourse, Eastern China
Ruozhen Geng, Yilang Wang, Fangfang Cai, Yige Zhang, Ping Yang, Guofei Dai, Renhui Li, Gongliang Yu
Fottea 2021, 21(1):44-52 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.015
The taxonomy of coccoid cyanobacteria has been largely revised in recent years. In this study, a novel coccoid cyanobacterial strain was isolated from a watercourse at the Poyang Lake Model Research Base, Jiangxi province, Eastern China. A polyphasic approach combining morphological and molecular testing was used to characterize this strain referred to as CHAB 4018. Regarding colonial form and cellular spatial arrangement, this strain was morphologically similar to strains of the genus Eucapsis. The maximum 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of this strain to the currently described cyanobacteria genera was 93.40%, exceeding the cutoff for genus...
Planothidium scrobiculatum sp. nov. (Bacillariophyta), a new monoraphid diatom from freshwater Pleistocene deposits of South America
Gisele C. Marquardt, Denise C. Bicudo, Carlos E. de M. Bicudo, Marie-Pierre Ledru, Luc Ector, Carlos E. Wetzel
Fottea 2021, 21(1):53-61 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.016
A new monoraphid diatom species appeared successively in paleolimnological records from a Quaternary sediment core (1.5±0.1 Ma) retrieved from Colônia basin (Brazilian Coastal Plain, Atlantic Forest, São Paulo Metropolitan Region), and is formally described as Planothidium scrobiculatum sp. nov. We studied the new species through light and scanning electron microscopy and discussed its similarity to other members of the genus. The new species has a unique combination of morphological features that allow its separation from all other species in the genus: (1) lanceolate valve outline with cuneate apices, (2) multiseriate striae...
A time-calibrated multi-gene phylogeny provides insights into the evolution, taxonomy and DNA barcoding of the Pinnularia gibba group (Bacillariophyta)
Jan Kollár, Eveline Pinseel, Wim Vyverman, Aloisie Poulíčková
Fottea 2021, 21(1):62-72 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.017
Many diatom groups are known for widespread (pseudo)cryptic species diversity and Pinnularia gibba group is one of them. Recently, Kollár et al. (2019) delimited species within the group by means of a polyphasic approach, providing an evidence for the existence of fifteen species. In order to further guide the systematic revision of the group, the present study focuses on the evolution and morphology of the P. gibba group. Using representatives of the fifteen species we used fossils to constrain and calibrate a multi-gene species-level phylogeny. Although many species are morphologically highly similar, significant differences in cell...
Diversity of Batrachospermales (Rhodophyta) in the Iberian Peninsula
Iara S. Chapuis, Morgan L. Vis, Orlando Necchi Jr., Pedro M. Sánchez Castillo, Marina Aboal, Giuseppe C. Zuccarello
Fottea 2021, 21(1):73-81 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.018
Fifty-four streams of the Iberian Peninsula were investigated to document the species richness and phylogeny of Batrachospermum and morphologically similar genera, determine phylogenetic affinities of taxa and infer biogeographic trends. Species were identified using morphology and DNA sequence data for the rbcL gene as follows: Batrachospermum gelatinosum, B. pozoazulense, Paludicola keratophyta, Sheathia arcuata, S. boryana, S. confusa, Torularia atra, Virescentia helminthosa, V. vogesiaca, and Volatus carrionii. Batrachospermum gelatinosum and S. boryana were most frequent...
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.
Maximiliano Barbosa, David E. Berthold, Forrest W. Lefler, H. Dail Laughinghouse IV
Fottea 2021, 21(1):82-99 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2020.019
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,...
Annamia dubia sp. nov. with a description of a new family, Geminocystaceae fam. nov. (Cyanobacteria)
Akihiro Tuji, Haruyo Yamaguchi, Takafumi Kataoka, Mayumi Sato, Tomoharu Sano, Yuko Niiyama
Fottea 2021, 21(1):100-109 | DOI: 10.5507/fot.2021.003
Our environmental DNA analysis identified Annamia-like operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from Lake Kasumigaura, Japan every summer season during the period from June 2012-May 2015. A strain from Lake Kasumigaura that agreed with an Annamia-like OTU (NIES-4383) was established with a cell-sorting machine. Based on the differences in morphology and 16S rRNA sequences, a new taxon is described: Annamia dubia Tuji, Yamaguchi et Niiyama sp. nov. A. dubia produces a microcystins that is also produced by A. toxica. Our 16S rRNA phylogenetical analysis reveals that the genus Annamia makes a monophyletic clade with...