Phylogeny of Chara sp. from Svalbard. Svalbard

This study describes the phylogeny of two Chara sp. isolated from warm springs on Svalbard by using sequencing of the matK gene. Several chara spp. from other European locations are included in this study. The Troll springs are warm springs on Svalbard (Spitsbergen). Charophytes were collected in the years 1910, 1912, 1958, 1992/1993, and 2018. However, since the Chara samples showed unusual morphological traits, there were doubts with respect to species identity. We here use DNA barcoding to show that there occur two Chara species in the Troll springs: Chara aspera and C. canescens.The study resulted in the following publication: Langangen A., Ballot A, Nowak P, Schneider S.C. (2019): Charophytes in warm springs on Svalbard (Spitsbergen): DNA barcoding identifies Chara aspera and Chara canescens with unusual morphological traits. Botany Letters, 167:2, 179-186, https://doi.org/10.1080/23818107.2019.1672104.