Molecular phylogenetics of representative Paramecium species

• Authors: A. Maciejewska
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The genus Paramecium has been known to science for 250 years and contains some of the most widely studied species of ciliates. At present, the basic research object for phylogenetic studies is the genome of various paramecia. One of the most widely used markers are genes coding for various rRNA's. Comparative analyses of sequences coding rRNA were applied for resolving the systematic position of some paramecia species and also for the establishment of an accurate taxonomy of Paramecium. Paramecia were also model organisms for their systematic group in more general studies in a comparative analysis among ciliates, fungi, plants and multicellular animals, illustrating the evolutionary relationships between Archaebacteria and Eucaryota. A new, revolutionary genealogy proposed the shifting of presumptively advanced groups towards more primitive ones, and traditionally primitive forms were located closer to highly specialized taxa, but rRNA analysis did not unambiguously resolve associations within the studied groups. Because of the aforementioned concerns, the number of molecular markers used for alternative studies is growing, such as genes coding proteins from the Hsp family or histone proteins. Other promising candidate markers may be hemoglobin genes or genes coding ?-tubulins. In case of comparative analyses of nucleotide sequences, the outcome of the research usually depends upon a subjective choice of DNA. One of the directions of research in molecular phylogenetics include indirect methods that allow for an estimation of entire genomes, for example RAPD-PCR-fingerprinting.

Keywords

EN

HEMOGLOBIN; HISTONE GENE; MOLECULAR MARKER; MOLECULAR PHYLOGENETICS; PARAMECIUM

Discipline

• EXPERIMENTAL_BIOLOGY_&_MEDICINE: EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY & MEDICINE

• Publisher: Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Folia Biologica
• Year: 2007
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 1-8

Contributors

author

A. Maciejewska

• Document Type: ARTICLE
• Publication order reference: Agnieszka Maciejewska, Department of Genetics, Szczecin University, Piastow 40B, 71-065 Szczecin, Poland