rDNA analyses of planktonic heterocystous cyanobacteria, including members of the genera Anabaenopsis and Cyanospira The GenBank accession numbers of the 16S rDNA gene sequences reported in this paper are AY038032–AY038037.

Abstract

The taxonomic coherence and phylogenetic relationships of 11 planktonic heterocystous cyanobacterial isolates were examined by investigating two areas of the rRNA operon, the 16S rRNA gene (rrnS) and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) located between the 16S rRNA and 23S rRNA genes. TherrnSsequences were determined for five strains, including representatives ofAnabaenaflos-aquae,Aphanizomenonflos-aquae,Nodulariasp. and two alkaliphilic planktonic members of the generaAnabaenopsisandCyanospira, whose phylogenetic position was previously unknown. Comparison of the data with those previously published for individual groups of planktonic heterocystous cyanobacteria showed that, with the exception of members assigned to the genusCylindrospermopsis, all the planktonic strains form a distinct subclade within the monophyletic clade of heterocystous cyanobacteria. Within this subclade five different phylogenetic clusters were distinguished. The phylogenetic groupings ofAnabaenaandAphanizomenonstrains within three of these clusters were not always consistent with their generic or specific assignments based on classical morphological definitions, and the high degree of sequence similarity between strains ofAnabaenopsisandCyanospirasuggests that they may be assignable to a single genus. Ribotyping and additional studies performed on PCR amplicons of the 16S rDNA or the ITS for the 11 planktonic heterocystous strains demonstrated that they all contain multiplerrnoperons and ITS regions of variable size. Finally, evidence is provided for intra-genomic sequence heterogeneity of the 16S rRNA genes within most of the individual isolates.