engleski

Epizoic diatom genus Poulinea from loggerhead sea turtles in the Adriatic Sea

Genus Poulinea is a marine diatom genus found on the sea turtles. It is part of a polyphyletic group of marine epizoic gomphonemoid diatoms, whose morphology and phylogenetical relationships are poorly understood. The aim of the research was to use a combined morphological and molecular approach to investigate genus Poulinea and related diatoms on loggerhead sea turtles from the Adriatic Sea. The relative abundance of Poulinea in diatom communities was assessed from the skin of seven frozen loggerhead carcasses using light microscopy. Morphological analyses are conducted from 231 cells on 34 samples from scanning electron microscopy images. Three strains of Poulinea lepidochelicola are cultured and three molecular markers (rbcL, psbC, and SSU) were sequenced from the cultures. Results show that Poulinea is a common member of the Adriatic loggerhead diatom communities. Four statistically different groups of diatoms were recognized from the results of morphological analyses: Poulinea lepidochelicola, Chelonicola costaricensis, Chelonicola caribeana, and one unidentified group. The molecular phylogenetic tree shows clear affiliation of three cultured strains to other P. lepidochelicola strains. This research offers new insights into the morphology and phylogeny of Poulinea and related taxa and sheds more light on the ecology of these small and poorly known epibionts.

epibiont ; Bacillariophyta ; Caretta caretta ; polyphasic approach ; morphology ; phylogeny ; culturing

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