Separation of chloroplasts from seagrasses in Western Australia

Abstract

Chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) has been used extensively in systematic and phylogenetic studies of land plants (Crawford, 1990). However, few aquatic plants have been investigated in a molecular genetic aspect. A preliminary survey showed that the cpDNA is a useful tool for investigating intra- and interspecific relationships among seagrasses of northern Japan (Iizumi, 1991). Intact chloroplasts are required for the analysis (Crawford, 1990). An attempt to extract intact chloroplasts from Australian seagrasses collected at Rottnest Island off Perth and King George Sound near Albany was made. The species successfully processed were Halophila australis Doty and Stone, Posidonia australis Hooker, P. angustifolia Cambridge and Kuo, P. robertsoniae Kuo and Cambridge, P. coriacea Cambridge and Kuo, P. kirkmanii Kuo and Cambridge, Amphibolis griffithii (J. M. Black) den Hartog, and A. antarctica (Labollardiere) Sonder and Ascherson. All samples were separately packed in plastic bags with oxygen and transported to the laboratory. A few other species received severe damage during two weeks of transportation