Identification of eukaryotic microalgal strains
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PHYCOLOGICAL METHODS
Identification of eukaryotic microalgal strains Marvin W. Fawley 1 & Karen P. Fawley 1 Received: 14 March 2020 / Revised and accepted: 23 June 2020 # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Proper identification and documentation of microalgae is often lacking in publications of applied phycology, algal physiology and biochemistry. Identification of many eukaryotic microalgae can be very daunting to the nonspecialist. We present a systematic process for identifying eukaryotic microalgae using morphological evidence and DNA sequence analysis. Our intent was to provide an identification method that could be used by nontaxonomists, but which is grounded in the current techniques used by algal taxonomists. Central to the identification is database searches with DNA sequences of appropriate loci. We provide usable criteria for identification at the genus or species level, depending on the availability of sequence data in curated databases and repositories. Particular attention is paid to dealing with possible misidentifications in DNA databases and utilizing current taxonomy. Keywords DNA barcoding . Microalgae . Species concepts
A problem frequently associated with reports of biotechnical applications of microalgae is the identification of the alga. This issue can arise when the authors have isolated a new strain which they may have misidentified or used a strain that was isolated and misidentified by another lab. Even if a strain was obtained from a culture collection, it may have been misidentified when placed in the collection or was subsequently contaminated with a different strain which has since overgrown the culture. Cultures may also be misnamed because the taxonomy has changed since the initial identification. A goal of any study in the public venue should be to accurately relate the materials and methods used such that the project could be replicated by other investigators. If the alga used in the study is misidentified, especially if it is not from an openly available collection, then the study would be difficult to replicate. Worse still, if the identity given for the alga places the organism in an incorrect order or class, the results or the study are of questionable value until the alga is properly identified. The purpose of this article is to provide a fundamentally sound procedure for the identification of algal strains including step-by-step instructions for the use of this method. Identification is intimately tied to the procedures used to
* Marvin W. Fawley [email protected] 1
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, University of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR 72830, USA
delimit new species. We will briefly review the techniques and philosophies used when naming new taxa, and how those same techniques can then be used to identify algal strains with confidence.
History of microalgal identification techniques Morphological identification The methods of algal taxonomy have always been bound by the technology available to the taxonomist and the history of identification tec
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