Donald F Kapraun1. 1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, 601 South College Road, Wilmington, NC 28403-3915, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Multicellular eukaryotic algae are phylogenetically disparate. Nuclear DNA content estimates have been published for fewer than 1 % of the described species of Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. The present investigation aims to summarize the state of our knowledge and to add substantially to our database of C-values for theses algae. METHODS: The DNA-localizing fluorochrome DAPI (4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and RBC (chicken erythrocyte) standard were used to estimate 2C values with static microspectrophotometry. KEY RESULTS: 2C DNA contents for 85 species of Chlorophyta range from 0.2-6.1 pg, excluding the highly polyploidy Charales and Desmidiales with DNA contents of up to 39.2 and 20.7 pg, respectively. 2C DNA contents for 111 species of Rhodophyta range from 0.1-2.8 pg, and for 44 species of Phaeophyta range from 0.2-1.8 pg. CONCLUSIONS: New availability of consensus higher-level molecular phylogenies provides a framework for viewing C-value data in a phylogenetic context. Both DNA content ranges and mean values are greater in taxa considered to be basal. It is proposed that the basal, ancestral genome in each algal group was quite small. Both mechanistic and ecological processes are discussed that could have produced the observed C-value ranges.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Multicellular eukaryotic algae are phylogenetically disparate. Nuclear DNA content estimates have been published for fewer than 1 % of the described species of Chlorophyta, Phaeophyta and Rhodophyta. The present investigation aims to summarize the state of our knowledge and to add substantially to our database of C-values for theses algae. METHODS: The DNA-localizing fluorochrome DAPI (4', 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole) and RBC (chicken erythrocyte) standard were used to estimate 2C values with static microspectrophotometry. KEY RESULTS: 2C DNA contents for 85 species of Chlorophyta range from 0.2-6.1 pg, excluding the highly polyploidy Charales and Desmidiales with DNA contents of up to 39.2 and 20.7 pg, respectively. 2C DNA contents for 111 species of Rhodophyta range from 0.1-2.8 pg, and for 44 species of Phaeophyta range from 0.2-1.8 pg. CONCLUSIONS: New availability of consensus higher-level molecular phylogenies provides a framework for viewing C-value data in a phylogenetic context. Both DNA content ranges and mean values are greater in taxa considered to be basal. It is proposed that the basal, ancestral genome in each algal group was quite small. Both mechanistic and ecological processes are discussed that could have produced the observed C-value ranges.
Authors: Jonas Collén; Betina Porcel; Wilfrid Carré; Steven G Ball; Cristian Chaparro; Thierry Tonon; Tristan Barbeyron; Gurvan Michel; Benjamin Noel; Klaus Valentin; Marek Elias; François Artiguenave; Alok Arun; Jean-Marc Aury; José F Barbosa-Neto; John H Bothwell; François-Yves Bouget; Loraine Brillet; Francisco Cabello-Hurtado; Salvador Capella-Gutiérrez; Bénédicte Charrier; Lionel Cladière; J Mark Cock; Susana M Coelho; Christophe Colleoni; Mirjam Czjzek; Corinne Da Silva; Ludovic Delage; France Denoeud; Philippe Deschamps; Simon M Dittami; Toni Gabaldón; Claire M M Gachon; Agnès Groisillier; Cécile Hervé; Kamel Jabbari; Michael Katinka; Bernard Kloareg; Nathalie Kowalczyk; Karine Labadie; Catherine Leblanc; Pascal J Lopez; Deirdre H McLachlan; Laurence Meslet-Cladiere; Ahmed Moustafa; Zofia Nehr; Pi Nyvall Collén; Olivier Panaud; Frédéric Partensky; Julie Poulain; Stefan A Rensing; Sylvie Rousvoal; Gaelle Samson; Aikaterini Symeonidi; Jean Weissenbach; Antonios Zambounis; Patrick Wincker; Catherine Boyen Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2013-03-15 Impact factor: 11.205