Development and Application of Molecular Markers to Maerl-Forming Species in EuropeData for Their Conservation

Abstract

Appropriate management of habitats of conservation concern, such as the maerl beds, requires reliable information on basic issues like species diversity, life cycle, and the population genetics of maerl-forming species. Conventionally, these topics had been addressed with morphological information. In comparison, the present thesis has tried to step forward by using molecular markers to solve these gaps in our knowledge. In chapter 1, maerl-forming species were delimited in Atlantic Europe using an integrative taxonomic approach that included COI-5P and psbA sequences as molecular data. A new major maerl-forming species was discovered by DNA barcodes, and its description is provided in chapter 2. A contribution to disentangle the life cycle of a major maerl-forming species (Phymatolithon calcareum) was obtained with a combination of DNA barcodes and morphology in chapter 3. Chapter 4 describes the development of a set of microsatellite markers for this species using NGS technology. Finally, preliminary results obtained with these microsatellites to several populations of P. calcareum across European Atlantic maerl beds are shown in a final Annex to this thesis.