Umezakia natans M.Watan. does not belong to Stigonemataceae but to Nostocaceae

Abstract

Umezakia natans M.Watan. was described by Dr. M. Watanabe in 1987 as a new species in the family of Stigonemataceae, following the rules of the Botanical Code. According to the original description, this planktonic filamentous species grows well in a growth media with pH being 7 to 9, and with a smaller proportion of sea water. Both heterocytes and akinetes were observed, as well as true branches developing perpendicular to the original trichomes in cultures older than one month. Watanabe concluded that Umezakia was a monotypic and only planktonic genus belonging to the family of Stigonemataceae. Unfortunately, the type culture has been lost. In 2008, we successfully isolated a new strain of Umezakia natans from a sample collected from Lake Suga. This lake is situated very close to the type locality, Lake Mikata in Fukui Prefecture, Japan. We examined the morphology of this U. natans strain, and conducted a DNA analysis using 16S rDNA regions. Morphological characters of the newly isolated strain were in a good agreement with the original description of U. natans. Furthermore, results of the DNA analysis showed that U. natans appeared in a cluster containing Aphanizomenon ovalisporum and Anabaena bergii. Therefore we conclude that Umezakia natans belongs to the family of Nostocaceae, not to Stigonemataceae. © Czech Phycological Society (2011).