Morphology, morphogenesis and phylogeny of a new soil ciliate, Bistichella sinensis n. sp., and morphology of two oxytrichids (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia)

Zhang, Tengteng; Wang, Jingyi; Lyu, Zhao; Wang, Yurui; Al‐Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Shao, Chen

doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2022.125934

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 47 publications

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“…Among ciliates, the subclass Hypotrichia represents an evolutionary pinnacle with complicated and specialized ciliary structures [ 8 , 13 , 14 ], all of which could degenerate during encystment and recover when excysting [ 4 , 15 ], making them ideal organisms for studying encystment [ 1 , 3 , 16 ]. With the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, genomic sequencing and comparison analyses of ciliates have become effective methods to provide insights into above questions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decryption of the survival “black box”: gene family expansion promotes the encystment in ciliated protists

Jin,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

BMC Genomics

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Background Encystment is an important survival strategy extensively employed by microbial organisms to survive unfavorable conditions. Single-celled ciliated protists (ciliates) are popular model eukaryotes for studying encystment, whereby these cells degenerate their ciliary structures and develop cyst walls, then reverse the process under more favorable conditions. However, to date, the evolutionary basis and mechanism for encystment in ciliates is largely unknown. With the rapid development of high-throughput sequencing technologies, genome sequencing and comparative genomics of ciliates have become effective methods to provide insights into above questions. Results Here, we profiled the MAC genome of Pseudourostyla cristata, a model hypotrich ciliate for encystment studies. Like other hypotrich MAC genomes, the P. cristata MAC genome is extremely fragmented with a single gene on most chromosomes, and encodes introns that are generally small and lack a conserved branch point for pre-mRNA splicing. Gene family expansion analyses indicate that multiple gene families involved in the encystment are expanded during the evolution of P. cristata. Furthermore, genomic comparisons with other five representative hypotrichs indicate that gene families of phosphorelay sensor kinase, which play a role in the two-component signal transduction system that is related to encystment, show significant expansion among all six hypotrichs. Additionally, cyst wall-related chitin synthase genes have experienced structural changes that increase them from single-exon to multi-exon genes during evolution. These genomic features potentially promote the encystment in hypotrichs and enhance their ability to survive in adverse environments during evolution. Conclusions We systematically investigated the genomic structure of hypotrichs and key evolutionary phenomenon, gene family expansion, for encystment promotion in ciliates. In summary, our results provided insights into the evolutionary mechanism of encystment in ciliates.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decryption of the survival “black box”: gene family expansion promotes the encystment in ciliated protists

Jin,

Li,

Chen

et al. 2024

BMC Genomics

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Multi-gene-based investigation on the molecular phylogeny of the hypotrichous family Strongylidiidae (Protista, Ciliophora), with notes on the ontogeny of a new genus and new species

Song,

Zhang,

et al. 2024

Mar Life Sci Technol

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Ciliates in the subclass Hypotrichia have long been difficult to classify as they are one of the most polymorphic and highly differentiated groups, leading to their systematics remaining unresolved. Phylogenetic relationships within the hypotrich family Strongylidiidae have been ambiguous due to discordance between the morphological and genetic data. In this study, a new strongylidiid genus Heterouroleptus is established, mainly based on the novel mode of origin of the ventral cirral rows: left ventral cirral row (LVR) originates from frontal–ventral–transverse cirral anlagen (FVTA) III (anterior portion), IV (middle portion), and V (rear portion); right ventral cirral row comes from the entire FVTA VI. A new species, Heterouroleptus weishanensis gen. nov., sp. nov., is investigated along with the morphometric and molecular data from a population of Strongylidium wuhanense. Eight new sequences and nuclear gene markers (single-gene and multi-gene) are provided to analyze the phylogenetic relationships of strongylidiids, with the COI gene utilized to uncover further genetic information at species level and below. The results reveal that: (1) Strongylidiidae is monophyletic and has a close relationship with Dorsomarginalia; (2) Heterouroleptus gen. nov. forms a clade that is sister to all the other strongylidiids; (3) Hemiamphisiella Foissner, 1988 and Pseudouroleptus Hemberger, 1985 should not be synonyms, and both genera should be subdivided due to their variable morphological characteristics; (4) LVR originating from three anlagen is a plesiomorphy of Strongylidiidae. The discovery of the origin of the LVR not only contributes to the establishment of the genus Heterouroleptus, but also helps to improve the diagnosis of the family Strongylidiidae.

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Novel findings on the mitochondria in ciliates, with description of mitochondrial genomes of six representatives

Zhang,

Fu,

et al. 2024

Mar Life Sci Technol

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Determining and comparing mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) are essential for assessing the diversity and evolution of mitochondria. Ciliates are ancient and diverse unicellular eukaryotes, and thus are ideal models for elucidating the early evolution of mitochondria. Here, we report on six new mitogenomes of spirotrichs, a dominant ciliate group, and perform comparative analyses on 12 representative species. We show that: (1) the mitogenomes of spirotrichs are linear structures with high A+T contents (61.12–81.16%), bidirectional transcription, and extensive synteny (except for the nad5, ccmf and cob genes in Euplotia); (2) the non-split of NADH dehydrogenase subunit 2 gene (nad2) is a plesiomorphy of ciliates, whereas it has evolved into a split gene in Spirotrichea (apart from Euplotes taxa), Oligohymenophorea, and Armophorea; (3) the number of small subunit ribosomal proteins (rps) encoded in mitogenomes increases in the later branching classes of ciliates, whereas rps8 shows a loss trend during the evolution of Euplotes taxa; (4) the mitogenomes of spirotrichs exhibit A/T codon bias at the third position, and the codon bias is mainly due to DNA mutation in oligotrichs, hypotrichs and Diophrys appendiculata; (5) the phylogenetic position of D. appendiculata is unstable and controversial based on both phylogenetic analyses and mitogenome evidence. In summary, we investigated the mitogenome diversity of spirotrichs and broadened our understanding of the evolution of mitochondria in ciliates.

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Morphology, morphogenesis and phylogeny of a new soil ciliate, Bistichella sinensis n. sp., and morphology of two oxytrichids (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia)

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 publications

Decryption of the survival “black box”: gene family expansion promotes the encystment in ciliated protists

Decryption of the survival “black box”: gene family expansion promotes the encystment in ciliated protists

Multi-gene-based investigation on the molecular phylogeny of the hypotrichous family Strongylidiidae (Protista, Ciliophora), with notes on the ontogeny of a new genus and new species

Novel findings on the mitochondria in ciliates, with description of mitochondrial genomes of six representatives

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