Morphological and Molecular Studies of Three New Diatom Species from Mountain Streams in South Korea

Abstract

In January 2019, epilithic diatoms were collected from two streams on Mount Gumdan and Mount Yongma near Lake Paldang in central South Korea. A total of 16 diatoms were isolated and classified by molecular and morphological analysis. Morphology was studied by LM and SEM, while the molecular study focused on small subunit (SSU) rRNA and ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL) genes. Molecular analysis showed that the three species had clear differences in phylogenetic distance. Based on these findings, we studied the ultrastructure of three species. Among the morphological characteristics, Hannaea librata is longer but narrower and always has conical spines, while the similar species H. pamirensis has bifurcated spines in the central region and conical spines near the pole. Gomphonema seminulum is wider in the axial–central area than G. pumilium. Nitzschia inclinata has a bended valve apex, while N. oligotraphenta has a straight apex.