Morphological and molecular features of a Chara vulgaris population from desert springs on the Sinai Peninsula (Springs of Moses, Egypt)

We studied morphology and phylogeny of a Chara vulgaris (Charophytes, Charales) population sampled from the thermal “Springs of Moses” (Ayun Musa, Sinai, Egypt). Morphology of freshly sampled and cultivated materials was compared in order to quantify the influence of culturing conditions on morphological features. Cultivated material was shorter and had a smaller internode diameter than the freshly collected material. The bracteoles in the freshly collected material were distinctly longer (about 4–12 times the length of an oogonium) than those in the cultured material (about 2–4 times). Moreover, oogonia were slightly longer in the cultured material. Genetic analysis of the matK gene clearly identified the sampled specimens as Chara vulgaris. However, the freshly collected material was found to differ from “typical” Chara vulgaris populations in one morphological and one life-cycle feature. The thalli were fairly delicate, and the antheridia were shed early in both freshly collected and cultured materials, while oogonia were still in place. Most of the plants prepared and observed in this study were found to bear plenty of oogonia, whilst antheridia were often missing. Antheridia were only present on the newly formed branchlets at the stem apex. The peculiar morphology and life-cycle characteristics of this C. vulgaris population may be adaptations to this highly isolated and selective desert freshwater habitat.