Classification and phylogeny of the cyanobiont Anabaena azollae Strasburger: an answered question?

• Tipo: Outra Publicação em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2014

Autores

Ana L Pereira (Autor) Outra; Vitor Vasconcelos (Autor) FCUP

Revista

Título: International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology

Vol. 64

Páginas: 1830-1840

ISSN: 1466-5026

Editora: Microbiology Society

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 20 Citações

Scopus - 27 Citações

Classificação Científica

FOS: Ciências exactas e naturais > Ciências biológicas

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-009-Q88

DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.059238-0

Abstract (EN): The symbiosis Azolla-Anabaena azollae, with a worldwide distribution in pantropical and temperate regions, is one of the most studied, because of its potential application as a biofertilizer, especially in rice fields, but also as an animal food and in phytoremediation. The cyanobiont is a filamentous, heterocystic cyanobacterium that inhabits the foliar cavities of the pteridophyte and the indusium on the megasporocarp (female reproductive structure). The classification and phylogeny of the cyanobiont is very controversial: from its morphology, it has been named Nostoc azollae, Anabaena azollae, Anabaena variabilis status azollae and recently Trichormus azollae, but, from its 16S rRNA gene sequence, it has been assigned to Nostoc and/or Anabaena, and from its phycocyanin gene sequence, it has been assigned as non-Nostoc and non-Anabaena. The literature also points to a possible co-evolution between the cyanobiont and the Azolla host, since dendrograms and phylogenetic trees of fatty acids, short tandemly repeated repetitive (STRR) analysis and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis of nil genes and the 16S rRNA gene give a two-cluster association that matches the two-section ranking of the host (Azolla). Another controversy surrounds the possible existence of more than one genus or more than one species strain. The use of freshly isolated or cultured cyanobionts is an additional problem, since their morphology and protein profiles are different. This review gives an overview of how morphological, chemical and genetic analyses influence the classification and phylogeny of the cyanobiont and future research.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 11