Taxonomic reassessment of Ulva prolifera (Ulvophyceae, Chlorophyta) based on specimens from the type locality and Yellow Sea green tides

作者：Jianjun Cui, Alvin P. Monotilla, Wenrong Zhu, Yoshihito Takano, Satoshi Shimada, Kensuke Ichihara, Tohru Matsui, Peimin He, Masanori Hiraoka · 发表于：Phycologia · 年份：2018 · DOI：10.2216/17-139.1 · 被引用次数：51 · 研究领域：Marine and coastal plant biology、Coastal wetland ecosystem dynamics

:Since 2008, the green seaweed Ulva prolifera has caused the world's largest green tide in the Yellow Sea, China. It has subsequently attracted considerable research interest. However, species identification is an essential step for advancing this research. Based on phylogenetic analyses using molecular sequences such as internal transcribed spacer (ITS) or ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase large chain (rbcL), specimens of U. prolifera collected worldwide were separated into a European clade and the Ulva linza–procera–prolifera (LPP) complex clade that included the Chinese bloom-forming strains and Japanese brackish strains. This has resulted in considerable controversy as to the identity of U. prolifera and the bloom-forming species in the Yellow Sea. To resolve this issue, we examined populations of U. prolifera from the type locality at Lolland Island, Denmark, and globally significant sites including sites from Japan and China using morphological, developmental, molecular and crossing studies. We found that almost all the Danish strains agree with the description of the type specimen and were included in the LPP clade. They had a branched morphology in culture and an obligate asexual life history with quadriflagellate zoosporoids. We conclude that this taxon in the LPP clade is true U. prolifera. Based on culture morphology, mating compatibility and the 5S rDNA spacer sequences, the Chinese bloom-forming strains were distinct, and the new subspecies U. prolifera subsp. qi...