Taxonomy and phylogeny of three heterotrich ciliates (Protozoa, Ciliophora), with description of a newBlepharismaspecies

Abstract

The morphology and phylogeny of three heterotrich ciliates, Anigsteinia clarissima (Anigstein, 1912) Isquith, 1968, Blepharisma penardi sp. nov., and Blepharisma undulans Stein, 1867, were investigated based on living morphology, infraciliature, and small subunit (SSU) rDNA sequence data. The new species B. penardi sp. nov. is recognized by the following combination of characters: size about 150-180 × 45-55 μm in vivo, cell colour variable from colourless to pale pink to dark brownish; peristome extending to middle of body; 36-63 adoral membranelles; 24-34 somatic kineties; single macronucleus; cortical granules tiny and colourless; freshwater habitat. Anigsteinia clarissima and B. undulans are both reported from China for the first time and are redescribed based on a combination of previous descriptions and new data from the Chinese populations. Phylogenetic analyses based on SSU rDNA sequence data show that B. penardi sp. nov. and B. undulans are both located within a clade comprising only congeners, thus supporting the monophyly of the genus Blepharisma. Anigsteinia clarissima clusters with its only congener forming a clade that is sister to the Spirostomum assemblage. Both the morphological and the molecular data support the placement of Anigsteinia in the family Spirostomidae.

The Taxonomy and Phylogeny of the Poorly known Heterotrich Ciliate Ampullofolliculina lageniformis Hadži, 1951 (Ciliophora: Heterotrichea)

“…The only significant difference was that individuals from the Ningbo population have fewer macronuclear nodules than that originally described (4-8 vs. 12) (Andrews 1949). We believe that this difference is very likely population-dependent because the number of macronuclear nodules is not very stable in most heterotrichid ciliates with a moniliform macronucleus (Yan et al 2016).…”

“…We believe that this difference is very likely population‐dependent because the number of macronuclear nodules is not very stable in most heterotrichid ciliates with a moniliform macronucleus (Yan et al. ).…”

GPSit: An automated method for evolutionary analysis of nonculturable ciliated microeukaryotes

“…Subsequently, using sequence information from multiple gene markers (18S‐ITS‐28S rDNA, alpha‐tubulin gene, COI, etc.) has become the widely‐accepted principle in phylogenetic analysis, especially for ciliates, an ecologically important protist group with a high degree of morphological complexity (Chen et al., ; Fernandes, da Silva Paiva, da Silva‐Neto, Schlegel, & Schrago, ; Gao, Gao, Wang, Katz, & Song, ; Gao & Katz, ; Gao, Song, & Katz, ; Gao, Li et al., ; Gao, Warren et al., ; Gao et al., ; Huang, Luo, Bourland, Gao, & Gao, ; Wang, Zhang et al., ; Wang, Wang et al., ; Wang, Wang, Sheng et al., ; Wang, Sheng et al., ; Yan et al., ; Yi, Huang, Yang, Lin, & Song, ; Zhang et al., ; Zhao et al., ).…”

Further insights into the highly derived haptorids (Ciliophora, Litostomatea): Phylogeny based on multigene data

“…Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenation of multiple genes are increasingly used to give better interpretations evolutionary relationships within different ciliate groups (Antipa, Dolan, Lynn, Obolkina, & Strüder‐Kypke, ; Gao, Gao, Wang, Katz, & Song, ; Gao, Warren, et al., ; Gao et al., ; Gentekaki et al., ; Huang, Luo, Bourland, Gao, & Gao, ; Li, Liu, Gao, Warren, & Song, ; Li, Zhan, & Xu, ; Pan, Jiang, Fan, Al‐Farraj, & Gao, ; Sung, Sung, Hywel‐Jones, & Spatafora, ; Yan, Xu, Al‐Farraj, Al‐Rasheid, & Song, ; Yan, Fan, et al., ; Zhao, Gao, Fan, Strüder‐Kypke, & Huang, ). In this study, we broaden the taxon sampling of haptorians by adding 14 small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU‐rRNA), 12 large subunit ribosomal RNA (LSU‐rRNA) and 12 ITS1‐5.8S‐ITS2 gene sequences.…”