The Amplification and Application of Ribosomal RNA (rDNA) Gene Sequences of Blidingia minima (Chlorophyta, Blidingia)

The sequence of the ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) plays\r\nan important role in species identification and phylogenetic analysis. However,\r\nthe only published full-length sequence of a\r\nribosomal gene of green algae is that of Ulva mutabilis. In this\r\nstudy, we amplified the full-length sequence of each\r\nribosomal gene unit of the ribosomal gene of Blidingia minima. The\r\nfull-length sequence of the ribosomal gene in Blidingia minima is 8676\r\nbp, including the 1759 bp 18S rDNA, 576 bp internal transcribed spacer (ITS) + 5.8S\r\nrDNA, 3282 bp 28S rDNA, and 3059 bp\r\nintergenic spacer (IGS) region. We then carried out a series of genetic\r\nanalyses based on the ITS and IGS sequences, to verify whether IGS sequences are useful for studying the genetic\r\ndiversity of green algae from different locations. We amplified the IGS\r\nsequences of Blidingia minima from 10 different locations in the Yellow\r\nSea. Multiple alignments of the IGS sequences of samples from these 10 different sites revealed varying degrees of base differences, and comparative analysis\r\nof the ITS sequences revealed that our amplified species was classified as Blidingia\r\nminima and distinct from other green algae. In conclusion, our full-length\r\namplified ribosomal gene provides useful information to enrich the data on\r\ngreen algae ribosomal genes and provides an effective molecular marker\r\nfor the analysis of the interspecies and intraspecies relationships of Blidingia minima.