A revised classification of the Dictyoteae (Dictyotales, Phaeophyceae) based on rbcL and 26S ribosomal DNA sequence analyses

Abstract

Dictyota is a genus of tropical to warm temperate brown algae characterized by parenchymatous, flattened thalli that grow from a single, transversely oriented apical cell. Dictyota is currently distinguished from allied genera of the tribe Dictyoteae (Dilophus, Glossophora, Glossophorella, and Pachydictyon) by the structure of the cortical and medullary layers, as well as the relative abundance of surface proliferations. Even though the traditional classification of the Dictyoteae has repeatedly been criticized in the past, the absence of sound molecular data has so far discouraged any new taxonomic proposals apart from a merger of Dilophus with Dictyota, which has been accepted by only part..