Phylogeography of ostreopsis along west Pacific coast, with special reference to a novel clade from Japan.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A dinoflagellate genus Ostreopsis is known as a potential producer of Palytoxin derivatives. Palytoxin is the most potent non-proteinaceous compound reported so far. There has been a growing number of reports on palytoxin-like poisonings in southern areas of Japan; however, the distribution of Ostreopsis has not been investigated so far. Morphological plasticity of Ostreopsis makes reliable microscopic identification difficult so the employment of molecular tools was desirable.

Methods/principal finding

In total 223 clones were examined from samples mainly collected from southern areas of Japan. The D8-D10 region of the nuclear large subunit rDNA (D8-D10) was selected as a genetic marker and phylogenetic analyses were conducted. Although most of the clones were un

SUBMITTER: Sato S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3229513 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature