Sequence analysis of partial LSU rDNA of three Alexandrium species (Dinophyceae) hitherto unreported

We, for the first time, reported molecular sequences of large subunit ribosomal DNA Dl-D3 region of A. hiranoi, A. leei and A. satoanum hitherto unreported. In addition, this study presented the full-length sequences of A. affine, A. fraterculus, A. catenella and A. tamarense occurring in Korean coastal waters. In total, 17 Alexandrium morphospecies were subjected to the phylogenetic analysis using the Maximum-likelihood (ML) method. The alignment result of sequences of A. hiranoi and A. pseudogonyaulax showed that there were only two substitutions without length heterogeneity implying their genetic affiliation. In ML tree, A. leei formed a deeply diverging branch probably because of the accelerated evolutionary rate, and its phylogenetic position was so ambiguous to resolve the phylogenetic relationship to the residual taxa. An A. satoanum culture showing morphological variation in the sulcal plate formed an independent divergent branch with consistent sister relationship to A. hiranoi/A. pseudogonyaulax clade supported by the high posterior probability (PP) value. Blast search in GenBank showed the sequence data of A. affine, A. fraterculus, A. catenella and A. tamarense corresponded to their morphological species designation. In ML tree, Alexandrium species were commonly split into four main clades. The inter-clade relationships were not clear and usually supported by the week PP values. In general, the sulcal plate of Alexandrium species seemed to reflect the true phylogeny at the main clade level, and the connection between the 1 and the apical pore complex seemed to reflect the phylogeny at the subclade level.