Intraindividual Variation in Nuclear DNA Content in Durvillaea Antarctica (Chamisso) Hariot, Macrocystis pyrifera (Linnaeus) C. Agardh and Lessonia spicata (Suhr) Santelices (Phaeophyceae)

Macrocystis C. Agardh, Durvillaea Bory and Lessonia Bory are three brown seaweeds genera of commercial importance for Chilean fishermen. Macrocystis pyrifera (Linnaeus) C. Agardh (Laminariales, Laminariaceae) is one of the world's most ecologically and economically important seaweed collected in Chile for alginate extraction; and as food for abalone aquaculture, Lessonia spicata (Suhr) Santelices (Laminariales, Lessoniaceae) represents more than 70% of the total brown seaweeds annual landing in Chile; and Durvillaea antarctica (Chamisso) Hariot (Fucales, Durvillaeaceae) is consumed as food, being considered very healthy because of its iodine content. Despite the economic importance of these species their nuclear DNA content is unknown until this moment. The present research was initiated to determine the nuclear DNA content and the intraindividual ploidy level variation in these seaweeds. The DNA-localizing fluorochrome DAPI (4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and red blood cell (chicken erythrocyte) standard were used to estimate the nuclear DNA contents by image analysis. Durvillaea antarctica presented lower 2C DNA (1.2 pg) content and narrower range of DNA contents (1C-2C) than the Laminariales, which showed higher 2C DNA contents (1.4 -1.5 pg) and a wider range of ploidy level, achieving up to 4C in L. spicata and up to 8C in M. pyrifera. This higher ploidy levels observed would be related with the more complex cortical organization in the Laminariales than D. antarctica. 1C nuclei were only found in mature antheridia (D. antarctica) and sporangia (M. pyrifera and L. spicata). The 2C values observed for the taxa assessed were in the range of other previously published Fucales and Laminariales

Aproximación al análisis fitosociológico de la flora algal del subestrato de Cystoseira mediterranea Sauv. en el litoral valenciano (España, Mediterráneo)

[spa] Se analiza fitosociológicamente la flora que coloniza el subestrato de Cystoseira mediterranea Sauv. en la costa valenciana. Los resultados concuerdan, en líneas generales, con los obtenidos en otros puntos del Mediterráneo occidental, destacando la abundancia de especies fotófilas y de amplia valencia ecológica. [eng] A phytosociological studv of the flora that grows under the canopy of Cystoseira mediterranea Sauv. in the Levantine coast of Spain (Mediterranean) is made. The results are in agreement with other ones from other sites of Western Mediterranean basin. The infralittoral photophilous species are the more conspicuous group

Checklist of the benthic marine macroalgae from Algeria, part II: Ulvophyceae

The seaweed diversity of the Mediterranean is still not completely known, especially in some areas of its African coasts. As an effort to complete a more detailed catalogue to fill such gap, an updated checklist of seaweeds from Algeria, based on updated literature records, is developed using as starting point the checklist of Perret-Boudouresque and Seridi published in 1989. In the present work, in which we include the Ulvophyceae Mattox & K.D.Stewart, we list 73 accepted taxa from this group, among which there are 8 new records for Algeria

Padina ditristromatica and Padina pavonicoides (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae): two new records for the marine benthic flora of the Mediterranean Spanish coasts

Padina distristromatica Ni-Ni-Win & H. Kawai and Padina pavonicoides Ni-Ni-Win & H. Kawai, two species recently described from the Mediterranean Sea, are reported for the first time from the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, and the former also from the Balearic Islands. In this paper new data are provided for both species, especially cell dimensions. The indusium features, which are proposed as new taxonomical character for P. distristromatica, as well as the lack of stolon-like structures in this species, are considered useful features for distinguishing P. distristromatica from P. pavonica. A distribution map of both species in the Spanish coasts is also provided

Mapas de distribución de algas marinas de la Península Ibérica y las islas Baleares. XXVII. Halymenia (Halymeniales, Rhodophyta)

[spa] Se presentan los mapas de distribución en la Península Ibérica y las islas Baleares del género Halymenia, representado en nuestras costas por H. elongata, H. floresii y H. latifolia. [eng] The distribution maps along the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands of the genus Halymenia, represented in this geographical area by H. elongata, H. floresii and H. latifolia, are given

Mapas de distribución de algas marinas de la Península Ibérica y las islas Baleares. XXVI. Cryptonemia (Halymeniales, Rhodophyta)

[spa] Se presentan los mapas de distribución en la Península Ibérica y las islas Baleares del género Cryptonemia, representado en nuestras costas por C. lomation y C. tuniformis.[eng] The distribution maps along the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands of the genus Cryptonemia, represented in this geographical area by C. lomation and C. tuniformis, are given

Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt, nueva cita para la Peninsula Iberica

Sargassum muticum (Yendo) Fensholt, feofícea originaria de Japón (Pacífico Oeste), está extendiendo rápidamente su área de distribución, asociada a los transportes de ostras japonesas (CRITCHLEY, A. & R. DIJKEMA, Bot. Mar. 27:211-216,1984). Actualmente está citada en el Japón, en la costa Pacífica de América del Norte, en el Atlántico europeo de Inglaterra, Canal de la Mancha y Holanda y en el Mediterráneo francés (CRITCHLEY, A. J. Mar. Biol. Ass. U.K. 63: 617-625, 1983)

Phylogeography of Dictyota fasciola and Dictyota mediterranea (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae): unexpected patterns on the Atlantic-Mediterranean marine transition and taxonomic implications

The Atlantic-Mediterranean marine transition is a fascinating biogeographic region, but still very poorly studied from the point of view of seaweed phylogeography. Dictyota fasciola and D. mediterranea (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) are two currently recognized sister species that share a large part of their distribution along the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, representing a unique study model to understand the diversification processes experienced by macroalgae during and after Messinian at this marine region. In this study, we sampled 102 individuals of D. fasciola and D. mediterranea from 32 localities along their distribution range and sequenced the mitochondrial cox1 and the chloroplast rbcL-rbcS DNA regions for all the samples. Our data do not support the occurrence of two sister species but a morphologically variable and highly genetic diverse species or a complex of species. Most of the observed genetic diversity corresponds to the Mediterranean populations, whereas the Atlantic ones are much more homogeneous. The early-diverged lineages inferred from both mtDNA and cpDNA phylogenetic reconstructions were constituted by samples from the Mediterranean Sea. Together, these results suggest that the Mediterranean Sea acted as a refugium for the D. fasciola-D. mediterranea lineage during the geologic and climatic changes occurred on the region since the Miocene, subsequently dispersing to the Atlantic Ocean

Mapas de distribución de algas marinas de la península Ibérica y las islas Baleares. XXVIII. Dasya (Ceramiales, Rhodophyta)

[spa] Se presentan los mapas de distribución en la Península Ibérica y las islas Baleares de las especies del género Dasya, correspondientes a D. baillouviana, D. corymbifera, D. hutchinsiae, D. ocellata, D. rigescens, D. rigidula y D. sessilis. [eng] The distribution maps of the species of Dasya found along the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, D. baillouviana, D. corymbifera, D. hutchinsiae, D. ocellata, D. rigescens, D. rigidulaand D. sessilis, are shown

Mediterranean species of Caulerpa are polyploid with smaller genomes in the invasive ones

Caulerpa species are marine green algae, which often act as invasive species with rapid clonal proliferation when growing outside their native biogeographical borders. Despite many publications on the genetics and ecology of Caulerpa species, their life history and ploidy levels are still to be resolved and are the subject of large controversy. While some authors claimed that the thallus found in nature has a haplodiplobiontic life cycle with heteromorphic alternation of generations, other authors claimed a diploid or haploid life cycle with only one generation involved. DAPI-staining with image analysis and microspectrophotometry were used to estimate relative nuclear DNA contents in three species of Caulerpa from the Mediterranean, at individual, population and species levels. Results show that ploidy levels and genome size vary in these three Caulerpa species, with a reduction in genome size for the invasive ones. Caulerpa species in the Mediterranean are polyploids in different life history phases; all sampled C. taxifolia and C. racemosa var. cylindracea were in haplophasic phase, but in C. prolifera, the native species, individuals were found in both diplophasic and haplophasic phases. Different levels of endopolyploidy were found in both C. prolifera and C. racemosa var. cylindracea. Life history is elucidated for the Mediterranean C. prolifera and it is hypothesized that haplophasic dominance in C. racemosa var. cylindracea and C. taxifolia is a beneficial trait for their invasive strategies