A cladistic analysis of diatom chloroplast DNA will be performed on the Cyclotella meneghiniana group (inluding three to perhaps five species). The morphology of these centric diatoms has not produced a satisfactory classification or genealogy, and this project will provide an independent molecular dataset impacting on these questions. The molecular approach to the systematics of this group has wider importance because of their fossil record and their utility as an ecological indicator. The DNA restriction site map will also add to the growing base of plant molecular data, on which a synthesis of plant phylogeny will eventually be based.
