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Future prospects for investigating ciliate biodiversity

100%

Rajter Ľ., Lu B., Rassoshanska E., Dunthorn M.

Acta Protozoologica

2022

vol. 61

35-46

Ciliates have a long history of being central in evolutionary and ecological studies on eukaryotic microorganisms. Although thousands of species have been discovered, their total diversity still remains unknown. Here, we will discuss two unsolved problems that hinder the further exploration of ciliate diversity at the species level, and potential solutions to these problems are proposed. First, ciliate morphospecies are difficult to identify because the different silver stains are not scalable (they do not represent high-throughput methods) and basic supplies are lacking (e.g., protargol); a solution may be the development of fluorescent staining techniques. Second, ciliate phylogenetic species are difficult to identify because of extensive paralogy in nuclear-protein-coding genes; a solution may be to concentrate on sequencing mitochondrial genomes. These two approaches could be integrated into a high-throughput fluorescent-single-cell sorting and mitochondrial genomes sequencing process that would enable the observation and better understanding of ciliate species on a massive scale.

New discoveries of the genus Thuricola Kent, 1881 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia, Vaginicolidae), with descriptions of three poorly known species from China

76%

Lu B., Ji D., Sheng Y., Song W., Hu X., Chen X., Al-Rasheid K. A. S.

Acta Protozoologica

2018

vol. 57

issue 2

123-143

Members of the genus Thuricola are a highly specialized group of peritrichous ciliates possessing a protective barrel-shaped lorica. The genus presents many difficulties in terms of species separation and definition, and in this context the present study investigates three species by protargol staining and analyses of SSU rDNA sequences. Based on their morphologic characteristics and biotope, they were identified as three poorly known forms in Thuricola, namely T. obconica Kahl, 1933, T. kellicottiana (Stokes, 1887) Kahl 1935 and T. folliculata Kent, 1881, respectively. T. obconica is characterized by possessing curved lorica and a single valve in vivo. T. kellicottiana is distinguished by two valves with a spine on the main valve, and a generally long internal stalk upon which the zooids sit. T. folliculata also has two valves but lacks a spine. The ciliature of the three species are basically similar. The main features are characterized as follows: infundibular polykineties 1–3 (P1–3) are relatively long and composed of three rows each; P1 bends twice and comprises three equally long rows; P2 ends near the second bend of P1 with all rows exhibiting a staggered arrangement; P3 converges with P1 at adstomal end, its row 1 at least twice as long as the other two rows; epistomial membranes 1 and 2 are present. Silverline system in Vorticella-pattern. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the three ciliates in this study cluster together within one of the two major sub-clades within the Vaginicolidae.

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2 Acta Protozoologica

1 2022

1 2018

2 Lu B.

1 Al-Rasheid K. A. S.

1 Chen X.

1 Dunthorn M.

1 Hu X.

1 Ji D.

1 Rajter Ľ.

1 Rassoshanska E.

1 Sheng Y.

1 Song W.

Search results

Future prospects for investigating ciliate biodiversity

New discoveries of the genus Thuricola Kent, 1881 (Ciliophora, Peritrichia, Vaginicolidae), with descriptions of three poorly known species from China