A revision of Porphyra and Bangia (Bangiales, Rhodophyta) from Korea based on morphological and molecular data

Abstract

Nuclear SSU rDNA, plastid rbcL and mitochondrial cox1 gene sequences as well as morphological comparisons were investigated for Porphyra and Bangia from Korea. More than 100 samples of Porphyra and 16 samples of Bangia were used in this study. In Korea, 14 species of Porphyra and two species of Bangia have been reported. According to morphological data, Korean Porphyra species which are all monostromatic can be recognized as four groups: i) dioecious group (P. dentata and P. pseudolinearis)

ii) monoecious group with half-parted spermatangial sori (P. katadae)

iii) monoecious group with intermixed spermatangial sori and smooth margin (P. koreana, P. kuniedae, P. tenera, P. yezoensis, etc.)

and iv) monoecious group with marginal spermatangial sori and dentate margin (P. okamurae, P. suborbiculata, P. suborbiculata f. latifolia). Our molecular data revealed that the thalli identified as \\'P. pseudolinearis\\' are belong to more than three species, that the third group includes more than three cryptic species, and that three taxa in the fourth group represent a single species, P. suborbiculata. In addition, thalli identified as \\'Bangia atropurpurea\\' or \\'B. fuscopurpurea\\' were resolved into five different clades, but they were hardly distinguished in morphology and anatomy. Phylogenetic relationships among Porphyra and Bangia species around Korea and Japan in the northwest Pacific will be discussed based on morphological and molecular data.