A new species Jenufa aeroterrestrica (Chlorophyceae incertae sedis, Viridiplantae), described from Europe

The chlorophycean genus Jenufa includes chlorelloid green microalgae with an irregularly spherical cell outline and a parietal perforated chloroplast with numerous lobes. Two species of the genus are known from tropical microhabitats. However, sequences recently obtained from various temperate subaerial biofilms indicate that members of the Jenufa lineage do not only occur in the tropics. In this paper, we describe and characterize a new species of the genus Jenufa, J. aeroterrestrica, which was identified in five samples of corticolous microalgal biofilms collected in Europe. These strains shared the general morphological and ultrastructural features of the genus Jenufa, but differed in having a larger average cell size and higher numbers of autospores. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the strains clustered in a sister position to two previously described tropical species, together with previously published European 18S rDNA sequences. This pattern was also supported by the ITS2 rDNA sequences of the genus Jenufa. Our data and previously published sequences indicate that the newly described species J. aeroterrestrica frequently occurs in temperate and sub-Mediterranean European subaerial biofilms, such as those occurring on tree bark or surfaces of stone buildings.