Hylodesmus singaporensis gen. et sp. nov., a new autosporic subaerial green alga (Scenedesmaceae, Chlorophyta) from Singapore.

The algal flora of subaerial habitats in the tropics remains largely unexplored, despite the fact that it potentially encompasses a wealth of new evolutionary diversity. Here we present a detailed morphological and molecular characterization of an autosporic coccoid green alga isolated from decaying wood in a natural forest in Singapore. Depending on culture conditions, this alga formed globular to irregularly oval solitary cells. Autosporulation was the only mode of reproduction observed. The cell periphery was filled with numerous vacuoles, and a single parietal chloroplast contained a conspicuous pyrenoid surrounded by a bipartite starch envelope. The cell wall was composed of a thick inner layer and a thin trilaminar outer layer, and the cell surface was ornamented with a few delicate ribs. Phylogenetic analyses of 18S rRNA gene sequences placed our strain in the family Scenedesmaceae (Sphaeropleales, Chlorophyceae) as a strongly supported sister branch of the genus Desmodesmus. Analyses of an alternative phylogenetic marker widely used for the Scenedesmaceae, the ITS2 region, confirmed that the strain is distinct from any scenedesmacean alga sequenced to date, but is related to the genus Desmodesmus, despite lacking the defining phenotypic features of Desmodesmus (cell wall with four sporopolleninic layers ornamented with peculiar submicroscopic structures). Collectively, our results establish that we identified a novel, previously undocumented, evolutionary lineage of scenedesmacean algae necessitating its description as a new species in a new genus. We propose it be named Hylodesmus singaporensis gen. et sp. nov. A cryopreserved holotype specimen has been deposited into the Culture Collection of Algae of Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic (CAUP) as CAUP C-H8001.

The first occurrence of the cyanobacterial alkaloid toxin cylindrospermopsin in the Czech Republic as determined by immunochemical and LC/MS methods.

Cylindrospermopsin (CYN) is a newly emerging carcinogenic alkaloid originally identified in tropical cyanobacteria Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Some recent studies reported production of this toxin also by other cyanobacteria in European countries. Here we report comparison of the immunochemical ELISA determination with the liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) method for CYN analyses in the samples from the Czech Republic, Central Europe. We have analysed 56 samples of raw lake waters collected from 32 localities. CYN was found at 3 localities with Aphanizomenon sp. sub-dominated water blooms. Results of the ELISA and LC/MS showed good qualitative agreement. However, concentrations determined by ELISA (0.4-4 microg/L) were systematically higher than concentrations determined by LC/MS (0.01-0.3 microg/L). Differences between methods could be attributed to matrix effects (both in ELISA and LC/MS) or ELISA cross-reactivity with other unidentified derivatives of CYN. Our study demonstrates for the first time occurrence of CYN in the Central Europe. With respect to its suspected carcinogenicity, further research on distribution, concentrations and risks of this cyanobacterial toxin is needed.

Detection and identification of oligopeptides in Microcystis (cyanobacteria) colonies: toward an understanding of metabolic diversity.

Cyanobacteria and particularly Microcystis sp. (Chroococcales) are known to produce a multitude of peptide metabolites. Here we report on the mass spectral analysis of cyanobacterial peptides in individual colonies of Microcystis sp. collected in a drinking water reservoir. A total number of more than 90 cyanopeptides could be detected, 61 of which could be identified either as known peptides or new structural variants of known peptide classes. For 18 new peptides flat structures are proposed. New congeners differed from known ones mainly in chlorination (aeruginosins), methylation (microginins), or amino acid sequences (cyanopeptolins). The high number of peptides and especially the new peptides underline the capability of Microcystis strains as producers of a high diversity of potentially bioactive compounds.