Ostreopsis lenticularis Y. Fukuyo (Dinophyceae, Gonyaulacales) from the South Atlantic Ocean: morphological and molecular characterization.

Ostreopsis is a benthic dinoflagellate genus comprising eleven species including seven that are toxigenic. Ostreopsis lenticularis was first described from French Polynesia and is widely distributed in many insular locations from the Pacific Ocean. The current study presents morphological and molecular evidence of the presence of O. lenticularis at the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, South Atlantic. Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy of field cells showed morphological features in agreement with the description of O. lenticularis. Cells were broadly oval, 66.0-117.5 µm in dorso-ventral diameter, 50.0-92.5 µm in width, with thecal plates presenting two kinds of pores. Phylogenetic analyses based on LSU (D1-D3) and ITS sequences from field cells from Fernando de Noronha clustered with O. lenticularis sequences from elsewhere. The species was present in low to high abundances. The current study expands the distribution of O. lenticularis to Fernando de Noronha Archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean.

Ostreopsis cf. ovata (Dinophyceae) Molecular Phylogeny, Morphology, and Detection of Ovatoxins in Strains and Field Samples from Brazil.

: Recurrent blooms of Ostreopsis cf. ovata have been reported in Brazil and the Mediterranean Sea with associated ecological, and in the latter case, health impacts. Molecular data based on the D1-D3 and D8-D10 regions of the LSU rDNA and ITS loci, and the morphology of O. cf. ovata isolates and field populations from locations along the Brazilian tropical and subtropical coastal regions and three oceanic islands are presented. Additional ITS sequences from three single cells from the tropical coast are provided. Toxin profiles and quantities of PLTX and their analogues; OVTXs; contained in cells from two clonal cultures and two field blooms from Rio de Janeiro were investigated. Morphology was examined using both light and epifluorescence microscopy. Morphometric analysis of different strains and field populations from diverse locations were compared. Molecular analysis showed that six of the seven sequences grouped at the large "Atlantic/Mediterranean/Pacific" sub-clade, while one sequence branched in a sister clade with sequences from Madeira Island and Greece. The toxin profile of strains and bloom field samples from Rio de Janeiro were dominated by OVTX-a and -b, with total cell quotas (31.3 and 39.3 pg cell-1) in the range of that previously reported for strains of O. cf. ovata.