A mtDNA-based phylogeny of the brown algal genus Fucus (Heterokontophyta; Phaeophyta)

• Published in: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution
• Main Authors: Coyer, James A., Hoarau, Galice, Oudot-Le Secq, Marie-Pierre, Stam, Wytze T., Olsen, Jeanine L.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2006
• Subjects: Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/51982/; https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/51982/1/Coyer.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2006.01.019

Species of Fucus are among the dominant seaweeds along Northern Hemisphere shores, but taxonomic designations often are confounded by significant intraspecific morphological variability. We analyzed intra- and inter-specific phylogenetic relationships within the genus (275 individuals representing 16 taxa) using two regions of the mitochondrion: a variable intergenic spacer and a conserved portion of the 23S subunit. Bayesian ML and MP analyses verified a shallow phylogeny with two major lineages (previously reported) and resolved some intra-lineage relationships. Significant species-level paraphyly/polyphyly was observed within lineages 1A and 2. Despite higher species richness in the North Atlantic, a North Pacific origin of the genus is supported by a gradient of decreasing haplotype and nucleotide diversities in F. distichus from the North Pacific to the East Atlantic.