Systematics of a Kleptoplastidal Dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium eucyaneum Hu (Dinophyceae), and Its Cryptomonad Endosymbiont

Abstract

New specimens of the kleptoplastidal dinoflagellate Gymnodinium eucyaneum Hu were collected in China. We investigated the systematics of the dinoflagellate and the origin of its endosymbiont based on light morphology and phylogenetic analyses using multiple DNA sequences. Cells were dorsoventrally flattened with a sharply acute hypocone and a hemispherical epicone. The confusion between G. eucyaneum and G. acidotum Nygaard still needs to be resolved. We found that the hypocone was conspicuously larger than the epicone in most G. eucyaneum cells, which differed from G. acidotum, but there were a few cells whose hypocone and epicone were of nearly the same size. In addition, there was only one site difference in the partial nuclear LSU rDNA sequences of a sample from Japan given the name G. acidotum and G. eucyaneum in the present study, which suggest that G. eucyaneum may be a synonym of G. acidotum. Spectroscopic analyses and phylogenetic analyses based on nucleomorph SSU rDNA sequences and chloroplast 23 s rDNA sequences suggested that the endosymbiont of G. eucyaneum was derived from Chroomonas (Cryptophyta), and that it was most closely related to C. coerulea Skuja. Moreover, the newly reported kleptoplastidal dinoflagellates G. myriopyrenoides and G. eucyaneum in our study were very similar, and the taxonomy of kleptoplastidal dinoflagellates was discussed. © 2013 Xia et al.