VOLUME 6 NUMBER 1 (January to June 2013)

by Deo Florence L. Onda¹, Garry Benico¹, Arielle F. Sulit¹,Paul Lorenzo Gaite¹, Rhodora V. Azanza¹* and Arturo O. Lluisma^{1, 2}*

¹The Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City
²Philippine Genome Center - Core Facility for Bioinformatics, University of the Philippines, Diliman

Various species of toxic dinoflagellates have beenisolated from various sites in the Philippines. Inthis study, we characterized a number of theseisolates using a molecular approach and ConfocalLaser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM).Phylogenetic analysis using genetic markers (LSU rDNA, SSUrDNA, and cytochrome oxidase b) confirmed the identity of theisolates as Pyrodinium bahamense var. compressum,Alexandrium affine, Gymnodinium catenatum, Prorocentrumsigmoides, P. micans and P. rhathymum. Morphologicaldifferences among strains of Pyrodinium were very minor andcould not be readily correlated with geographical variation.Intra-species polymorphism in the form of single nucleotidepolymorphisms (SNPs) and deletions/insertions in the sequenceswere also observed. However, in general, the SNPs in thesemarkers are too few and may not provide sufficient resolution toallow these markers to be used for population genetic studies.