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Morphological Redescription and SSU rDNA-based Phylogeny of Two Freshwater Ciliates, Uronema nigricans and Lembadion lucens (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea), with Discussion on the Taxonomic Status of Uronemita sinensis

Publication date: 22.09.2017

Acta Protozoologica, 2017, Volume 56, Issue 1, pp. 17 - 37

https://doi.org/10.4467/16890027AP.17.003.6967

Authors

,
Mingjian LIU
Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
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,
Lifang LI
Marine College, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, 264209, China
All publications →
,
Zhishuai Qu
Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Key Laboratory of Mariculture of the Education Ministry of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
Department of Ecology, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany
All publications →
,
Xiaotian Luo
Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Key Laboratory of Mariculture of the Education Ministry of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
All publications →
,
Saleh A. Al-Farraj
Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China
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,
Xiaofeng Lin
Laboratory of Protozoology, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China
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Xiaozhong Hu
Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China
Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China; Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK
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Titles

Morphological Redescription and SSU rDNA-based Phylogeny of Two Freshwater Ciliates, Uronema nigricans and Lembadion lucens (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea), with Discussion on the Taxonomic Status of Uronemita sinensis

Abstract

The morphology and phylogeny of two poorly known species, Uronema nigricans (Müller, 1786) Florentin, 1901 and Lembadion lucens (Maskell, 1887) Kahl, 1931, were respectively collected from a eutrophic freshwater river in Shenzhen and an oligotrophic lake in Zhanjiang (both in southern China) and investigated using standard taxonomic methods. The sampled population of Uronema nigricanswas characterized by a cell size of 30–40 μm × 12–20 μm in vivo, an elongated elliptical outline with a prominent apical plate, and 13–15 somatic kineties. The sampled population of Lembadion lucenswas characterized by a cell size of 45–80 μm × 20–50 μm in vivo, 25–35 somatic kineties, five or six caudal kinetosomes with cilia about 20 μm in length, and a single right-positioned contractile vacuole.The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene (SSU rDNA) of these species was sequenced and compared with those of their congeners to reveal nucleotide differences. The phylogenetic trees showed that the Shenzhen population of Uronema nigricans clusters with two other sequences under the name of “Uronema nigricans” (which are possibly misidentified) and then groups with Uronemita sinensis (Pan et al., 2013) Liu et al., 2016 with full support. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that genus Lembadion is monophyletic with full support provided by both Bayesian inference and maximum likelihood algorithms. Based on analyses of morphological and sequence data, Uronemita sinensis may represent a new genus between Uronema and Uronemita.

References

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Information

Information: Acta Protozoologica, 2017, Volume 56, Issue 1, pp. 17 - 37

Article type: Original article

Authors

Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Marine College, Shandong University at Weihai, Weihai, 264209, China

Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Key Laboratory of Mariculture of the Education Ministry of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Department of Ecology, University of Kaiserslautern, 67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany

Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Key Laboratory of Mariculture of the Education Ministry of China, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China

Laboratory of Protozoology, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environmental Science in Guangdong Higher Education, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China

Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China; Department of Zoology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, UK

Published at: 22.09.2017

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND  licence icon

Percentage share of authors:

Mingjian LIU (Author) - 14%
Lifang LI (Author) - 14%
Zhishuai Qu (Author) - 14%
Xiaotian Luo (Author) - 14%
Saleh A. Al-Farraj (Author) - 14%
Xiaofeng Lin (Author) - 14%
Xiaozhong Hu (Author) - 16%

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