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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2004, p. 3305-3312, Vol. 70, No. 6
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.6.3305-3312.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Morphological, Chemical, and Genetic Diversity of Tropical Marine Cyanobacteria Lyngbya spp. and Symploca spp. (Oscillatoriales){dagger}

Robert W. Thacker1* and Valerie J. Paul2

Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama 35294,1 Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Fort Pierce, Florida 349492

Received 5 September 2003/ Accepted 21 February 2004

Although diverse natural products have been isolated from the benthic, filamentous cyanobacterium Lyngbya majuscula, it is unclear whether this chemical variation can be used to establish taxonomic relationships among disparate collections. We compared morphological characteristics, secondary-metabolite compositions, and partial 16S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences among several collections of L. majuscula Gomont, Lyngbya spp., and Symploca spp. from Guam and the Republic of Palau. The morphological characteristics examined were cell length, cell width, and the presence or absence of a calyptra. Secondary metabolites were analyzed by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. Each collection possessed a distinct cellular morphology that readily distinguished Lyngbya spp. from Symploca spp. Each collection yielded a unique chemotype, but common chemical characteristics were shared among four collections of L. majuscula. A phylogeny based on secondary-metabolite composition supported the reciprocal monophyly of Lyngbya and Symploca but yielded a basal polytomy for Lyngbya. Pairwise sequence divergence among species ranged from 10 to 14% across 605 bp of 16S rDNA, while collections of L. majuscula showed 0 to 1.3% divergence. Although the phylogeny of 16S rDNA sequences strongly supported the reciprocal monophyly of Lyngbya and Symploca as well as the monophyly of Lyngbya bouillonii and L. majuscula, genetic divergence was not correlated with chemical and morphological differences. These data suggest that 16S rDNA sequence analyses do not predict chemical variability among Lyngbya species. Other mechanisms, including higher rates of evolution for biosynthetic genes, horizontal gene transfer, and interactions between different genotypes and environmental conditions, may play important roles in generating qualitative and quantitative chemical variation within and among Lyngbya species.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294-1170. Phone: (205) 934-4006. Fax: (205) 975-6097. E-mail: thacker{at}uab.edu.

{dagger} Contribution 93 of the U.S. ECOHAB program, contribution 513 of the University of Guam Marine Laboratory, and contribution 580 of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, June 2004, p. 3305-3312, Vol. 70, No. 6
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.6.3305-3312.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

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  • Joyner, J. J., Litaker, R. W., Paerl, H. W. (2008). Morphological and Genetic Evidence that the Cyanobacterium Lyngbya wollei (Farlow ex Gomont) Speziale and Dyck Encompasses at Least Two Species. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 74: 3710-3717 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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