Morphological and phylogenetic studies on Gelidiales (Rhodophyta)

Abstract

The order Gelidiales Kylin is monophyletic and it's inserted in class Florideophyceae. This order is relatively small and has representatives that are widely distributed in tropical, subtropical and temperate seas. The research on the group' systematic has been stimulated by both economic and academic interest, because some species are source of high quality agar. The use of molecular markers sequences as much as "DNA barcodes" or to phylogenetic inference, coupled with morphological studies, has helped to elucidate the taxonomy of the group. However, much remains to be done. In the master's project (FAPESP2011/04224-5), who studies Gelidiales of southeastern Brazil, seven species were found that could not be identified by the sequences obtained, nor by previous analyzes of morphology. It means that may be species that do not have molecular data on the banks, such as GenBank and BOLD, or even species new to science. Dr. Wilson Freshwater is a leading researcher in the group today, and his help will be extremely important to solve the problems that have been found in studies with the Brazilian Gelidiales. During the scholarship will be made detailed of morphology and phylogeny analysis of the Brazilian material that is compared to other species of the group. (AU)