A taxonomic study of cyanobacteria in wheat fields adjacent to industrial areas in Yazd province (Iran)

Culturing, isolation, purification, and identification of cyanobacteria collected from wheat field soil, in five stations around the industrial areas in Yazd province (Iran) were conducted in this study. Identification of taxa was based on morphology and molecular methods. Cluster analysis and principal component analyses performed using SPSS software and rate of resemblance among the taxa were investigated. The phylogenetic analyses carried out according to 16S rRNA gene sequences data, and the phylogenetic relationships were assessed by Maximum Parsimony, Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference. The results of this study indicated presence of 32 species included in four orders of cyanobacteria. Among these orders, Oscillatoriales with three families, eight genera and 13 species showed the highest species diversity, whereas Chroococcales with two families, three genera and four species, exhibited the lowest diversity. Among isolated taxa, Oscillatoria ornata, O. engelmanniana, Jaaginema pallidum, Pseudanabaena minima,Stenomitos frigidus, Nostoc edaphicum, and Gloeothece tepidariorum, are reported as new records for algal flora in Iran. Distributions and descriptions of the new taxa were also presented.