Danilo E. Bustamante1,2,3, Martha S. Calderon1,3,4, Juan P. Rodriguez3,4, Zambra López3,4, Francisco Bahamonde3,4, Karin Gerard3,4, Andrés Mansilla3,4
1Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva, INDES-CES, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas 01001, Peru
2Instituto de Investigación en Ingeniería Ambiental (IIIA), Facultad de Ingeniería Civil y Ambiental, Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas 01001,Peru
3Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Puerto Williams, Chile
4 Laboratorio de Ecosistemas Marinos Antárticos y Sub-antárticos (LEMAS), Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
In the northern hemisphere, more than 18 species of Palmariaceae have been confirmed molecularly. In contrast, only three species − P. decipiens, P. georgica, and D. yagan − have been identified in the southern hemisphere. The former is a dominant marine red algal species that provides habitat, nourishment and shelter for many marine organisms along Antarctic and Subantarctic Island ecosystems; the second is a small gregarious plant reported from South Georgia, and Heard and Macquarie Islands; and the latter one is a tiny species restricted to the Beagle Chanel, Magellan region. A new assessment using multilocus (i.e., cox1, rbcL, nuclear-encoded ITS rDNA) and genomic sequencing of fresh material of Palmariaceae from topotype localities revealed the following new combinations in the genus Devaleraea, namely D. antarctica comb. nov. which is sister to D. mollis; and D. decipiens comb. nov. which is sister to a cluster of Devaleraea species. The new assembled genomes of D. decipiens showed high gene synteny with D. antarctica and P. palmata, however minor differences are documented. Organellar genome content and phylogenetic analyses of D. decipiens supports its placement in the Palmariaceae.