DeYoe, H.R., A.M. Chan and C.A. Suttle. 1994. Phylogeny of Aureococcus anophagefferens and a morphologically similar bloom-forming alga from Texas, as determined by 18S rDNA sequence analysis. Abstracts American Society Limnology and Oceanography, and Phycological Society American, Miami, FL, June 1994.

The 18S rRNA gene of Aureococcus anophagefferens (Chrysophyceae) and a morphologically similar bloom-forming alga from Texas were sequenced and compared with representatives of the Bacillariophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Eustigmatophyceae, Pelagophyceae, Phaeophyceae, Synurophyceae and Xanthophyceae. The Texas isolate was unique among the taxa included in the analysis by the presence of a 560 nucleotide insert in the 18S rRNA gene. Based on distance (Jukes-Cantor/Neighbor Joining method) and maximum parsimony analyses, the Texas isolate (excluding the insert from the analyses), Pelagomonas calceolata (Pelagophyceae) and A. anophagefferens formed a monophyletic group distinct from the other taxa. Within this group, A. anophagefferens and P. calceolata were most closely related. The Texas isolate was on a more deeply rooted branch. These data are consistent with A. anophagefferens being included in the recently recognized class, Pelagophyceae. Furthermore, despite their similarities, the Texas isolate and Aureococcus anophagefferens may be members of different genera.