A new record of a filamentous cyanobacterial species in China: Oculatella ucrainica Oxana Vinogradova & Tatiana Mikhailyuk

A newly recorded drought-tolerant terrestrial cyanobacterium, Oculatella ucrainica Oxana Vinogradova & Tatiana Mikhailyuk, originally isolated from soil crusts and coastal areas in 2017, is reported in China for the first time. In this study, two filamentous cyanobacteria were isolated from moist soil at Taiyuan Normal University, Shanxi Province, and damp walls in Huaxi Park, Guizhou Province. These strains displayed morphological similarities to O. ucrainica, both featuring orange spots on the apical cells of their trichomes. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences demonstrated high similarity (above 99%) between the two isolates and O. ucrainica, with both strains clustering on a single branch with high bootstrap support. Furthermore, the secondary structure of these cyanobacteria closely resembled that of O. ucrainica, further corroborating their identification as members of this species. This study represents the first report of O. ucrainica in China.