A new species of Scytonema isolated from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India

• Published in: Journal of systematics and evolution : JSE Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 519 - 527
• Main Authors: Singh, Prashant, Minj, Robin Anigo, Kunui, Kikku, Shaikh, Zaid Muneef, Suradkar, Archana, Shouche, Yogesh S, Mishra, Arun Kumar, Singh, Satya Shila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-09-2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: 16S rRNA; cpcB; Cyanobacteria; cyanobacterium; IGS and cpcA; Nostoc; Phylogenetics; phylogeny; psbA gene; rbcl gene; Scytonema; Scytonema bilaspurensis; Scytonema bohnerii; India, Chhattisgarh; India
• ISSN: 1674-4918; 1759-6831
• DOI: 10.1111/jse.12202

Filamentous cyanobacterium （strain loC-PS） isolated from a fresh water body of Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India is being described as new species of the polyphyletic genus Scytonema. Phenotypic, molecular and phylogenetic characterization was performed and the combined results validated the strain as a new species. Careful observations of the filaments, presence of a distinctly textured sheath throughout the length of the trichome, differences in the shape and dimensions of the vegetative cells, and heterocytes provided reliable morphological signals that the strain differed from rest of the closely related species. Sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene showed 96.89% sequence similarity with Scytonema hofmanni PCC 7110 while rbcl and psbA sequencing showed 95% and 92% similarities with Scytonema hofmanni PCC 7110 and Nostoc sp. PCC 7524 respectively while the nifD gene sequence similarity was found to be 96% with Scytonema hofmanni PCC 7110. The PC-IGS region was sequenced and concatenated cpcB, IGS and cpcA regions indicated 97% closest similarity with Scytonerna sp. PCC 7110 and Scytonema bohnerii Ind24. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses gave a strong pattern of distinct clustering in case of all the molecular markers. The phenotypic, genetic and phylogenetic observations prove conclusively that the strain IoC-PS is a new species in the genus Scytonema with the name proposed being Scytonema bilaspurensis.