Datasets for phylogenetic analyses of Pavlomulina ranunculiformis

Rapidly accumulating genetic data from environmental sequencing approaches have revealed an extraordinary level of unsuspected diversity within marine phytoplankton, which is responsible for around 50% of global net primary production. However, the phenotypic identity of many of the organisms distinguished by environmental DNA sequences remains unclear. The rappemonads are a plastid-bearing protistan lineage that to date has only been identified by environmental plastid 16S rRNA sequences. The phenotypic identity of this group, which does not confidently cluster in any known algal clades in 16S rRNA phylogenetic reconstructions, has remained unknown since the first report of environmental sequences over two decades ago. We show that rappemonads are closely related to a haptophyte microalga, Pavlomulina ranunculiformis gen. nov. sp. nov., and belong to a new haptophyte class, the Rappephyceae. Organellar phylogenomic analyses provide strong evidence for the inclusion of this lineage with...