Morphological and molecular phylogenetic characterization of heterotrophic dinoflagellate Ornitheocercus magnificus in coastal waters of Bandar Abbas, Persian Gulf

Yarahmadi, Zahra; Archangi, Bita; Savari, Ahmad; Nabavi, Mohammad Bagher

doi:10.22113/jmst.2021.271631.2416

Morphological and molecular phylogenetic characterization of heterotrophic dinoflagellate Ornitheocercus magnificus in coastal waters of Bandar Abbas, Persian Gulf

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Manuscript

Authors

Zahra Yarahmadi ¹

Bita Archangi ²

Ahmad Savari ³

Mohammad Bagher Nabavi ⁴

¹ Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Oceanography, Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology

² Associate Professor- School of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Oceanography, Khorramshahr University of Marine science and Technology

³ Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Oceanography, Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology

⁴ Associate Professor, Department of Marine Biology, Faculty of Marine Science and Oceanography, Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology

10.22113/jmst.2021.271631.2416

Abstract

The objective of this study was to morphological description and phylogenetic study of Ornithocercus magnificus in Bandar Abbas waters. The genus Ornithocercus is a heterotrophic dinoflagellate of the family Dinophysaceae. The samples were collected using a phytoplankton net (mesh size: 20 µm) equipped with a flowmeter in surface waters. The plankton samples were scanned and identified with an inverted microscope. Then, the SSU rDNA gene fragment from individual cells have been amplified using the polymerase chain reaction and sequenced for the Iranian strain of this species. Phylogenetic analyzes were performed by Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Maximum parsimony (MP) methods. In this study, two new sequences of SSU rDNA from O. magnificus were reported for the first time and deposited in the GenBank. Morphological studies showed that the isolated cells from Iranian water were O. magnificus. Generally, the results showed; the morphological results of O. magnificus were matched with the molecular results of this study. Phylogenetic analysis grouped isolated Iranian sequences with O. magnificus and formed a monophyletic clad with other members of this genus as sister groups. The genus Histioneis is the closest relative to Ornithocercus.

Keywords

Morphology

phylogeny

SSU rDNA، Ornithocercus magnificus

Persian Gulf

Subjects