• ALGAE
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.33-43
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• 2020

Two species of the agar-yielding genus Gelidium, G. galapagense and G. isabelae, have previously been reported from Korea but their occurrence has not been confirmed with molecular data. We intensively collected samples of Gelidium from Jeju Island, where the two species were reported, and the southern coast of Korea. Phylogenetic analyses based on cox1 and rbcL sequences revealed that only a single species occurred in Korea. The Korean species was distantly related to G. galapagense and G. isabelae from the Galápagos Islands, and formed a clade with G. microdonticum, G. millarianum, and G. pakistanicum. A new species, G. palmatum, is described for those specimens that were previously recognized as either G. galapagense or G. isabelae from Korea. G. palmatum is small in size (up to 0.7 cm), with compressed, lanceolate axes, irregular, digitate to palmate branches, abundant rhizines in the medulla, tetrasporangial sori without sterile margins, and rounded bilocular cystocarps borne subapically on palmate branchlets.

• ALGAE
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.327-332
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• 2021

Raw material of gelidioid red algae yielding high-quality agar has been in short supply due to overharvesting, but in situ farming of gelidioids has not been practical due to their slow growth. To produce vegetative seedstock of a cosmopolitan species, Pterocladiella capillacea, we investigated the number and length of regenerated branches arising from sectioned fragments during 3 weeks of laboratory culture at 10, 15, 20, and 25℃. All sectioned fragments formed axis-like branches mostly from the upper cut edge and stolon-like branches mostly from the lower cut edge, showing a high capacity of regeneration and intrinsic bipolarity. At 20℃, the number of regenerated branches increased to 2.74 ± 1.29 on the upper cut edge and 4.26 ± 2.66 on the lower cut edge. Our study reveals that the use of fragments bearing regenerated branches as seedstock can be a simple method to initiate fast propagation for mass cultivation in the sea or outdoor tank.