https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0829-5152
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ABSTRACT
Many dinoflagellate groups have been overlooked because of their small size compared with their larger counterparts; consequently, little is known about their diversity, distribution, and contribution to the planktonic community. Ansanella is a recently described genus of small marine planktonic dinoflagellates belonging to the order Suessiales. In this study, morphological observations together with molecular SSU and LSU rDNA analyses of clonal strains from the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea) allowed the identification of A. cf. natalensis and a newly reported species, Ansanella catalana. The cells of A. catalana are oval and 9.6–15.5 μm long; the cell surface is covered with amphiesmal vesicles arranged in 10–13 latitudinal rows; the episome has an apical furrow complex with a single elongated apical vesicle; a type E eyespot is also present. This newly identified species can be distinguished from congeneric species by morphological details of the cell surface, the presence of mucocysts and an extrusome type not previously reported in dinoflagellates. The characterization of this structure could provide insights into extrusome evolution in dinoflagellates. Metabarcoding analysis of plankton and sediment samples from the Catalan coast revealed a wide distribution of Ansanella and the remarkable contribution of this genus to the dinoflagellate communities from three different coastal habitats.
Highlights
Members of Ansanella genus are widespread along the Catalan coast.
A new species of the genus Ansanella (Dinophyceae) is described.
A new type of extrusome was observed.
Acknowledgements
We thank E. Prats and JM. Rebled from the Unitat de Microscòpia Electrònica, Facultat de Medicina-SCT, Universitat de Barcelona for support with the transmission electron microscopy method, A. Mallabiabarrena for guidance in the confocal microscopy study, and R. Gallisai (ICM-CSIC) and N. Timoneda (ICM-CSIC) for assistance during the molecular and bioinformatic analyses, respectively. This work acknowledges the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary information
The following supplementary material is accessible via the Supplementary Content tab on the article’s online page at https://doi.org/10.1080/09670262.2021.1914861
Supplementary table S1. List of strains obtained in this study, including collection date and place as well as environmental conditions and GenBank accession numbers of sequences obtained.
Supplementary table S2. List of sequences obtained in this study (in bold) and those from GenBank used to construct the concatenated phylogenetic tree, including the corresponding species, strain/isolate and GenBank accession numbers.
Supplementary figure S1. Bayesian phylogenetic tree inferred from the LSU rDNA sequences, including Suessiales representatives. Sequences of Borghiellaceae and Tovelliaceae species were used as the outgroup. Sequences from this study are highlighted in bold. Bootstrap (BS) values and Bayesian posterior probabilities (BPP) are provided (% BS/BPP) only when >80% and >0.9, respectively.
Author contributions
N. Sampedro: sampling, isolation of strains, manuscript concept, light and electron microscopy, morphological analyses, drawings, data presentation, drafting and editing of the manuscript; A. Reñé: sampling, obtaining and processing the sequences, phylogenetic analysis and supporting writing; J. Matos: isolation of strains, maintaining cultures and light microscopy; JM. Fortuño: supporting SEM analysis; E. Garcés: funding acquisition, supervision and supporting writing.