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Gram-positive, aerobic, motile, rod-shaped, mesophilic epiphytic bacterium Planomicrobium okeanokoites was isolated from the surface of endemic species Himantothallus grandifolius in Larsemann Hills, Eastern Antarctica. The diversity of epiphytic bacterial communities living on marine algae remains primarily unexplored; virtually no reports from Antarctic seaweeds. The present study used morpho-molecular approaches for the macroalgae and epiphytic bacterium characterization. Phylogenetic analysis was performed using mitochondrial genome encoded COX1 gene; chloroplast genome encodes rbcL; nuclear genome encoded large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU rRNA) for Himantothallus grandifolius and ribosomal encoded 16S rRNA for Planomicrobium okeanokoites. Morphological and molecular data revealed that the isolate is identified as Himantothallus grandifolius, which belongs to Family Desmarestiaceae of Order Desmarestiales in Class Phaeophyceae showing 99.8% similarity to the sequences of Himantothallus grandifolius, from King George Island, Antarctica (HE866853). The isolated bacterial strain was identified on the basis of chemotaxonomic, morpho-phylogenetic, and biochemical assays. A phylogenetic study based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the epiphytic bacterial strain SLA-357 was closest related to the Planomicrobium okeanokoites showing 98.7% sequence similarity. The study revealed the first report of this species from the Southern Hemisphere to date. Also, there has been no report regarding the association between the Planomicrobium okeanokoites and Himantothallus grandifolius; however, there are some reports on this bacterium isolated from sediments, soils, and lakes from Northern Hemisphere. This study may open a gateway for further research to know about the mode of interactions and how they affect the physiology and metabolism of each other.

Ulva intestinalis and Ulva compressa are two bloom-forming morphologically-cryptic species of green seaweeds widely accepted as cosmopolitan in distribution. Previous studies have shown that these are two distinct species that exhibit great morphological plasticity with changing seawater salinity. Here we present a phylogeographic assessment of tubular Ulva that we considered belonging to this complex collected from various marine and estuarine green-tide occurrences in a ca. 600 km stretch of the Indian west coast. Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference phylogenetic reconstructions using ITS nrDNA revealed strong endemism of Indian tubular Ulva, with none of the Indian isolates forming part of the already described phylogenetic clades of either U. compressa or U. intestinalis. Due to the straightforward conclusion that Indian isolates form a robust and distinct phylogenetic clade, a description of a new bloom-forming species, Ulva paschima Bast, is formally proposed. Our phylogenetic reconstructions using Neighbor-Joining method revealed evolutionary affinity of this new species with Ulva flexuosa. This is the first molecular assessment of Ulva from the Indian Subcontinent.