Sequence-based Phylogeography of Seaweeds: How Current Distribution is Shaped by Accumulation of Past?

Abstract

State-of-the-art techniques of phylogeography are now routinely used to assess changes at DNA level accumulated over time, and thereby to study forces that might have influenced distribution patterns of organisms. Presented in this mini-review is the works on phylogeography of edible green seaweed Monostroma in Japan and how the current distribution pattern of this algae might have been influenced with the history of medieval Japan. Also presented herein is the striking revelations in ancient Japanese waka – a form of short poetry – that documents historical distribution patterns of this algae, and how these are congruent with findings in phylogeography reconstruction.