Algae. 2014; 29(1): 15-25.
Mitochondrial cox1 and cob sequence diversities in Gelidium vagum (Gelidiales, Rhodophyta) in Korea
Kyung Ju Yoon1, Kyeong Mi Kim1, Ga Hun Boo1, Kathy Ann Miller2 and Sung Min Boo1,*
1Department of Biology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Korea
2University Herbarium, 1001 Valley Life Sciences Building 2465, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
ABSTRACT
The number of species of non-native and invasive marine algae is growing, with concomitant public concern about native ecosystems and coastlines. Gelidium vagum, recently introduced from northeast Asia to Europe and North America, commonly occurs from the intertidal to subtidal zones in Korea, China, and Japan. To investigate the level of genetic diversity of native populations, we analyzed mitochondrial cox1 and cob from 108 specimens of G. vagum from Korea, China, eastern Russia, including from Netherlands and USA. Haplotype network of individual and cox1 + cob datasets revealed no genetic structure in local populations, suggesting genetic flow between Korean populations. Our results corroborate a typical pattern of genetic diversity for introduced species, with low levels in introduced populations and high levels in native populations. All haplotypes were shared between the Netherlands and USA, but not between Korea and the Netherlands / USA except cox1 and between far eastern Russia and the invaded area in cob. Additional sampling will identify donor populations in native northeast Asian waters. This is the first report of the utility of the mitochondrial coding cob sequences in red algae.
Keywords :
cob; cox1; Gelidium; genetic diversity; haplotype network; invasive algae
