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  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Molecular phylogeny of euglyphid testate amoebae (Cercozoa: Euglyphida) suggests transitions between marine supralittoral and freshwater/terrestrial environments are infrequent
    (2010)
    Heger, Thierry J.
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    Todorov, Milcho
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    Golemansky, Vassil
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    Leander, Brian S.
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    Pawlowski, Jan
    Marine and freshwater ecosystems are fundamentally different regarding many biotic and abiotic factors. The physiological adaptations required for an organism to pass the salinity barrier are considerable. Many eukaryotic lineages are restricted to either freshwater or marine environments. Molecular phylogenetic analyses generally demonstrate that freshwater species and marine species segregate into different sub-clades, indicating that transitions between these two environments occur only rarely in the course of evolution. It is, however, unclear if the transitions between freshwater and environments characterized by highly variable salinities, such as the marine supralittoral zone, are also infrequent. Here, we use testate amoebae within the Euglyphida to assess the phylogenetic interrelationships between marine supralittoral and freshwater taxa. Euglyphid testate amoebae are mainly present in freshwater habitats but also occur in marine supralittoral environments. Accordingly, we generated and analyzed partial SSU rRNA gene sequences from 49 new marine/supralittoral and freshwater Cyphoderiidae sequences, 20 sequences of the Paulinellidae, Trinematidae, Assulinidae, and Euglyphidae families as well as 21 GenBank sequences of unidentified taxa derived from environmental PCR surveys. Both the molecular and morphological data suggest that the diversity of Cyphoderiidae is strongly underestimated. The results of our phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that marine supralittoral and freshwater euglyphid testate amoeba species are segregated into distinct sub-clades, suggesting that transitions between these two habitats occurred only infrequently.
  • Publication
    Métadonnées seulement
    The testate lobose amoebae (order Arcellinida Kent, 1880) finally find their home within Amoebozoa
    (2005)
    Nikolaev, Sergey I
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    Petrov, Nikolay B
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    Berney, Cédric
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    Fahrni, José
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    Pawlowski, Jan
    Testate lobose amoebae (order Arcellinida Kent, 1880) are common in all aquatic and terrestrial habitats, yet they are one of the last higher taxa of unicellular eukaryotes that has not found its place in the tree of life. The morphological approach did not allow to ascertain the evolutionary origin of the group or to prove its monophyly. To solve these challenging problems, we analyzed partial small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genes of seven testate lobose amoebae from two out of the three suborders and seven out of the 13 families belonging to the Arcellinida. Our data support the monophyly of the order and clearly establish its position among Amoebozoa, as a sister-group to the clade comprising families Amoebidae and Hartmannellidae. Complete SSU rRNA gene sequences from two species and a partial actin sequence from one species confirm this position. Our phylogenetic analyses including representatives of all sequenced lineages of lobose amoebae suggest that a rigid test appeared only once during the evolution of the Amoebozoa, and allow reinterpretation of some morphological characters used in the systematics of Arcellinida. (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier GmbH.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    The Testate Lobose Amoebae (Order Arcellinida Kent, 1880) Finally Find their Home within Amoebozoa
    (2005)
    Nikolaev, Sergey I.
    ;
    ;
    Petrov, Nikolay B.
    ;
    Berney, Cédric
    ;
    Fahrni, José
    ;
    Pawlowski, Jan
    Testate lobose amoebae (order Arcellinida Kent, 1880) are common in all aquatic and terrestrial habitats, yet they are one of the last higher taxa of unicellular eukaryotes that has not found its place in the tree of life. The morphological approach did not allow to ascertain the evolutionary origin of the group or to prove its monophyly. To solve these challenging problems, we analyzed partial small-subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) genes of seven testate lobose amoebae from two out of the three suborders and seven out of the 13 families belonging to the Arcellinida. Our data support the monophyly of the order and clearly establish its position among Amoebozoa, as a sister-group to the clade comprising families Amoebidae and Hartmannellidae. Complete SSU rRNA gene sequences from two species and a partial actin sequence from one species confirm this position. Our phylogenetic analyses including representatives of all sequenced lineages of lobose amoebae suggest that a rigid test appeared only once during the evolution of the Amoebozoa, and allow reinterpretation of some morphological characters used in the systematics of Arcellinida.
  • Publication
    Accès libre
    Morphological and Molecular Diversification of Asian Endemic Difflugia tuberspinifera (Amoebozoa, Arcellinida): A Case of Fast Morphological Evolution in Protists?
    Gomaa, Fatma
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    Yang, Jun
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    Zhang, Wen-Jing
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    Yu, Zheng
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    Todorov, Milcho
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    Planktonic arcellinid testate amoebae exhibit a broad-range of morphological variability but it is currently unclear to what extent this variability represents phenotypic plasticity or if it is genetically determined. We investigated the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of three endemic east-asian Difflugia taxa 1) the vase-shaped D. mulanensis, 2) and a spinose and a spineless morphotypes of D. tuberspinifera using scanning electron microscopy and two ribosomal genetic markers (SSU rDNA and ITS sequences). Our phylogenetic analyses shows that all three taxa are genetically distinct and closely related to D. achlora and Netzelia oviformis. The genetic variations between the spineless and spinose morphotypes of D. tuberspinifera were low at the SSU rRNA level (0.4%), but ten times higher at the ITS level (4.5-6%). Our data suggest that the two forms of D. tuberspinifera are sufficiently differentiated in terms of morphology and genetic characteristics to constitute two separate entities and that the presence of spines does not result from phenotypic plasticity due to environmental selective pressure. However further observational and experimental data are needed to determine if these two forms constitute different biological species.