Taxonomic revision of Dictyochales (Dictyochophyceae) based on morphological, ultrastructural, biochemical and molecular data

The taxonomy of the siliceous members of Dictyochales has been based exclusively on the structure of their silica skeletons. In this study, other morphological, ultrastructural, pigment and molecular characters, in addition to the silica skeletons, were used in the systematics of the siliceous members of this group. As very little is known about the ultrastructure of Dictyocha octonaria, cells of both the skeleton-bearing and naked forms were also studied. A cladistic analysis based on morphological data and a molecular phylogeny based on nuclear coded small subunit ribosomal DNA retrieved a well-supported monophyletic Dictyochales. D. octonaria and D. speculum were resolved together with strong support. There was no support for a clade for the three species currently placed in Dictyocha; D. fibula is clearly distinct from the other two Dictyocha taxa, D. speculum and D. octonaria. It is highly likely there are two or three undescribed species within D. octonaria/D. speculum clade and two undescribed genera within the Dictyochales, based on the positions of sequences from uncultured eukaryotes present in GenBank. These findings necessitate a taxonomic revision of the three siliceous, skeleton-bearing species. Because D. fibula is the type species of Dictyocha, we propose that D. octonaria and D. speculum be reassigned respectively to the genus Octactis as O. octonariaHovasse and O. speculum (Ehrenberg) F. H. Chang, J. M. Grieve & J. E. Sutherland, comb. nov.