Abstract
Freshwater filamentous green algae with branched thalli are almost unknown from the Antarctic region. They have rarely been recorded from maritime Antarctica and from sub-Antarctic Islands with rich phanerogamic vegetation. In the genus Hazenia, only one unidentified species was reported from several subaerial sites on Signy Island in 1979. However, unique populations of this genus were recently found in the stony littoral zone of two stable shallow lakes in the northern deglaciated region of James Ross Island (NE Antarctic Peninsula). These populations have a specialized ecology; they participate in the microvegetation on the flattened surfaces of stones in the littoral zones of lakes. The dominant green filamentous and richly branched alga from these communities was transferred to monospecific culture and studied in detail. Molecular sequence data (18S ribosomal DNA and the internal transcribed spacer) indicate that it belongs to the genus Hazenia (Bold in Am J Bot 45:737–743, 1958). Based on distinct molecular, morphological, and ecological characters, this alga was described as a new species (Hazenia broadyi spec. nova). A review of the genus Hazenia, based on molecular phylogenetic analyses of available strains, was also performed.
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Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic (long-term research development grant RVO67985939, projects KONTAKT ME 945 and CzechPolar LM2010009). The authors would like to thank to the scientific infrastructure of the Czech Antarctic Station “J.G. Mendel” and its crew for their support. We are also very grateful to Mrs. Jana Šnokhousová and Mrs. Dana Švehlová for their technical assistance.
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Škaloud, P., Nedbalová, L., Elster, J. et al. A curious occurrence of Hazenia broadyi spec. nova in Antarctica and the review of the genus Hazenia (Ulotrichales, Chlorophyceae). Polar Biol 36, 1281–1291 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1347-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1347-z