• ALGAE
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2022

Genetic diversity and distribution patterns of marine macroalgae are increasingly being documented in Southeast Asia. These studies show that there can be significant levels of genetic diversity and isolation between populations on either side of the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Bostrychia tenellla is a common filamentous red seaweed in the region and the entity is represented by at least two cryptic species. Despite being highly diverse and widespread, genetic variation and population structure of this species complex remains understudied, especially around the Thai-Malay Peninsula. We analyzed genetic diversity and inferred the phylogeographic pattern of specimens identified as B. tenella using the plastid RuBisCo spacer from samples from the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Our genetic analysis confirmed the occurrence of the two cryptic B. tenella species (B and C) along both coasts. Cryptic species B was more common in the area and displayed higher genetic diversity than species C. Historical demographic analyses indicated a stable population for species B, but more recent population expansion for species C. Our analyses also revealed that both cryptic species from the Andaman Sea possessed higher genetic diversity than those of the Gulf of Thailand. We also detected moderate to high levels of gene flow and weak phylogeographic structure of cryptic species B between the two coasts. In contrast, phylogeographic analysis showed genetic differences between populations of both cryptic species within the Andaman Sea. Overall, these results suggest that cryptic B. tenella species around Thai-Malay Peninsula may have undergone different demography histories, and their patterns of genetic diversity and phylogeography were likely caused by geological history and regional sea surface current circulation in the area.

• ALGAE
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.205-214
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• 2018

Red algae in the genus Portieria produce secondary halogenated monoterpenes, which are effective deterrents against herbivores, as secondary metabolites. Portieria hornemannii samples from various sites contain different concentrations of these metabolites, suggesting the existence of genetic diversity and cryptic species. To evaluate the genetic diversity and species distribution of Portieria in the northwest Pacific, we analyzed rbcL sequences of samples collected from Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. The phylogenetic analysis revealed five distinct lineages at the species level. One was recognized as Portieria japonica and the others were cryptic lineages in P. hornemannii. The rbcL haplotypes of P. japonica were genetically fragmented into two subgroups of geographic origin; Korean and Japanese. The four cryptic lineages within P. hornemannii were also geographically structured at a much finer scale. These results suggest that different genetic lineages in Portieria evolved from variable microhabitats, consequently influencing secondary metabolites. Further study is required to resolve the relationships between genetic and secondary metabolite variations in Portieria.

• Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.395-410
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• 2014

The genus Callophyllis is recorded as six separate species with imprecise species delimitation in Korea. To elucidate the species boundaries of Korean Callophyllis, we performed morphological observations and molecular analyses, and included three Japanese Callophyllis species from the type locality. From the results of molecular analyses using plastid rbcL and mitochondrial COI-5P genes, we confirmed ten Callophyllis species, including five cryptic ones: C. adhaerens, C. adnata, C. crispata, and C. japonica from Korea and Japan; C. hayamensis as an unrecorded species from Korea; C. cartilaginea, C. mollitia, C. repens, C. serratifolia, and C. undulata as new species from Korea. There were no Korean specimens that matched C. adnata or C. crispata from Japan, except Korean C. japonica, which formed a genetic group with the Japanese species. We obtained the interspecific divergences among the five cryptic species as 0.6-4.5% in rbcL and 2.8-8.4% in COI-5P. We recognized that the species diversity of Callophyllis has been underestimated from the northwestern Pacific region. The species boundary of Callophyllis from Korea and Japan will be a cornerstone to revealing the phylogenetic affinity of the genus distributed in both hemispheres of the western Pacific.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.219-230
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• 2016

The Euglena deses group are common freshwater species composed of E. adhaerens, E. carterae, E. deses, E. mutabilis, and E. satelles. These species are characterized by elongated cylindrical worm-like cell bodies and numerous discoid chloroplasts with a naked pyrenoid. To understand the cryptic diversity, species delimitation and phylogenetic relationships among members of the group, we analyzed morphological data (light and scanning electron microscopy) and molecular data (nuclear small subunit [SSU] and large subunit [LSU] rDNAs and plastid SSU and LSU rDNAs). Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses based on the combined four-gene dataset resulted in a tree consisting of two major clades within the group. The first clade was composed of two subclades: the E. mutabilis subclade, and the E. satelles, E. carterae, and E. adhaerens subclade. The E. mutabilis subclade was characterized by a lateral canal opening at the anterior end and a single pellicular stria, whereas the E. satelles, E. carterae, and E. adhaerens subclade was characterized by an apical canal opening at the anterior end of the cell and double pellicular striae. The second clade consisted of 20 strains of E. deses, characterizing by a subapical canal opening at the anterior end and double pellicular striae, but they showed cell size variation and high genetic diversity. Species boundaries were tested using a Bayesian multi-locus species delimitation method, resulting in the recognition of five cryptic species within E. deses clade.

• Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.385-393
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• 2019

Chironomid communities are indicators of water pollution because of their ability to thrive under freshwater conditions. However, it is difficult to distinguish between chironomid larvae based on morphology. DNA barcoding, based on nucleotide sequences of marker genes, can be used to identify chironomid larvae. Samples of chironomid larvae were collected from Gwangju Stream and Pungyeongjeong Stream, tributaries of the Yeongsan River in South Korea. We identified 3 subfamilies, 13 genera, 16 species, and 1 cryptic species. There were 7 genera and 10 species from the subfamily Chironominae, 5 genera and 5 species from subfamily Orthocladiinae, 1 genus and 1 species from subfamily Tanipodinae, and the cryptic chironomid species of the family Chironomidae. There were 21 individuals from, 7 species and 1 cryptic species from the Gwangju Stream and 24 individuals, belonging to 10 species from the Pungyeongjeong Stream. The only species detected in both streams was Cricotopus bicinctus. The relationship between water quality and the species detected was difficult to explain, but the number of species showed a tendency to increase at sites where water quality was poor. Additional investigations and studies are needed to understand the relationship between water quality and the chironomid species occurring in these two streams.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.837-842
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• 2013

A cryptic plasmid, pMBLR00, from Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides KCTC 3733 was isolated, characterized, and used for the construction of a cloning vector to engineer Leuconostoc species. pMBLR00 is a rolling circle replication plasmid, containing 3,370 base pairs. Sequence analysis revealed that pMBLR00 has 3 open reading frames: Cop (copy number control protein), Rep (replication protein), and Mob (mobilization protein). pMBLR00 replicates by rolling circle replication, which was confirmed by the presence of a conserved double-stranded origin and single-stranded DNA intermediates. An Escherichia coli-Leuconostoc shuttle vector, pMBLR02, was constructed and was able to replicate in Leuconostoc citreum 95. pMBLR02 could be a useful genetic tool for metabolic engineering and the genetic study of Leuconostoc species.

• Journal of Species Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.10-21
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• 2022

Two strains of cyanobacteria were isolated from the soil of Seodaemun-gu, Seoul and from the gravel of the Ansung Stream, Gyeonggi Province, Korea, respectively. They were identified as Pantanalinema rosaneae and Alkalinema pantanalense under the Leptolyngbyaceae through the morphological, ecological, and molecular analyses and first reported in Korea. Belonging to the Leptolyngbya morphotypes, they are thin filamentous cyanobacteria and morphologically indistinguishable cryptic species. The strains of P. rosaneae and A. pantanalense isolated in Korea revealed the same cluster as their type species in the phylogenetic analysis using the 16S rRNA gene sequences, and similarities in the secondary structures of 16S-23S ITS sequences. Although both P. rosaneae and A. pantanalense were collected from water samples in the Pantanal wetland of Brazil, the P. rosaneae obtained in Korea, was soil-dwelling subaerophytic species whereas A. pantanalense was epilithic species living on gravel in the freshwater. Therefore, they are considered to have an extensive habitat.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.282-285
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• 2004

The polyene antibiotics including nystatin, pimaricin, amphotericin and candicidin are a family of most promising antifungal polyketide compounds, typically produced by rare actinomycetes species. The biosynthetic gene clusters for these polyenes have been previously investigated, revealing the presence of highly homologous biosynthetic genes among polyene-producers such as polyketide synthase (PKS) and cytochrome P450 hydroxylase (CYP) genes. Based on amino acid sequence alignment among actinomycetes CYP genes, the highly-conserved regions specific for only polyene CYP genes were identified and chosen for degenerate PCR primers, followed by the PCR-screening with various actinomycetes genomic DNAs. Among tested several polyene non-producing actinomycetes strains, Pseudonorcardia autotrophica strain was selected based on the presence of PCR product with polyene-specific CYP gene primers, and then confirmed to contain a cryptic novel polyene hydroxylase gene in the chromosome. These results suggest that the polyene-specific hydroxylase gene PCR should be an efficient way of screening and isolating potentially-valuable cryptic polyene antibiotic biosynthetic genes from various microorganisms including rare actinomycetes.

• Korean Journal of Plant Taxonomy
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.129-148
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• 2016

Plant species on oceanic islands comprise nearly 25% of described vascular plants on only 5% of the Earth's land surface yet are among the most rare and endangered plants. Conservation of plant biodiversity on islands poses particular challenges because many species occur in a few and/or small populations, and their habitats on islands are often disturbed by the activity of humans or by natural processes such as landslides and volcanoes. In addition to described species, evidence is accumulating that there are likely significant numbers of "cryptic" species in oceanic archipelagos. Plant systematists, in collaboration with others in the botanical disciplines, are critical to the discovery of the subtle diversity in oceanic island floras. Molecular data will play an ever increasing role in revealing variation in island lineages. However, the input from plant systematists and other organismal biologists will continue to be important in calling attention to morphological and ecological variation in natural populations and in the discovery of "new" populations that can inform sampling for molecular analyses. Conversely, organismal biologists can provide basic information necessary for understanding the biology of the molecular variants, including diagnostic morphological characters, reproductive biology, habitat, etc. Such basic information is important when describing new species and arguing for their protection. Hybridization presents one of the most challenging problems in the conservation of insular plant diversity, with the process having the potential to decrease diversity in several ways including the merging of species into hybrid swarms or conversely hybridization may generate stable novel recombinants that merit recognition as new species. These processes are often operative in recent radiations in which intrinsic barriers to gene flow have not evolved. The knowledge and continued monitoring of plant populations in the dynamic landscapes on oceanic islands are critical to the preservation of their plant diversity.

• ALGAE
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.91-103
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• 2016

A goal of phylogeography is to relate phylogenetic patterns to potential historic and contemporary geographic isolating events. Genetic breaks found in phylogeographic studies may denote boundaries between more generally applicable biogeographic regions. We investigated the distribution of Lessonia variegata, an important habitat forming alga, found on most rocky shores around New Zealand’s main islands, plus related species from surrounding waters. L. variegata has been shown to consist of four distinct cryptic species. Our aim was to compare the distribution of L. variegata with proposed bioregions; and to develop phylogeographic hypotheses to explain its present day distribution. Both a mitochondrial (atp8-sp) and plastid (RuBisCo spacer) marker, with different mutation rates, were used to gain information of the phylogenetic history of Lessonia. The data revealed high phylogeographic structuring and reciprocal endemism for all L. variegata cryptic species. One species (L. variegata / N) is confined to the northern part of the North Island of New Zealand; L. variegata / W is found at the southeast of the North Island and the northern South Island; L. variegata / K is endemic to the northeast South Island; and L. variegata / S is restricted to the southern part of the South Island. No overlapping areas of L. variegata species distribution were found. The data showed that genetic breaks in Lessonia do mostly correlate to bioregions, and highlight the importance of Cape Campbell at the northeast of the South Island and East Cape in the North Island, well known phylogeographic breaks, as a barrier between adjacent species.