Molecular Phylogeny of Chlorophyta Species Isolated from a Shallow Lake Ecosystem

Abstract

Studying the algal diversity of lentic ecosystems is an important issue for identifying the alteration in aquatic ecosystems. Morphological characterization of algae is inadequate to identify different types of microalgae and it is also necessary to depend on molecular evidence which is more crucial and a precise tool. In this study, two Chlorophyta species were identified; Tetradesmus dimorphus (Turpin) M.J.Wynne (Basionym: Scenedesmus dimorphus) and Chlorella sorokiniana Shihira & R.W.Krauss), in a shallow lake. The evolutionary tree was constructed for both species and the results showed that the Iraqi Tetradesmus dimorphus isolate was placed in clade 4, more closely related to the Tetradesmus dimorphus from USA, China, Pakistan, and Sweden with similarity 99 %, 99%, 97 %, and 96 % for all respectively. The Iraqi isolated Chlorella sorokiniana (OP718564.1) is within the clade 2, and composed sister group with Chlorella sorokiniana (KU29188.1) from the USA, with 99 % similarity.