RESUMO
Species determination is crucial in biodiversity research. In tintinnids, identification is based almost exclusively on the lorica, despite its frequent intraspecific variability and interspecific similarity. We suggest updated procedures for identification and, depending on the aim of the study, further steps to obtain morphological, molecular, and ecological data. Our goal is to help improving the collection of information (e.g. species re-/descriptions and DNA barcodes) that is essential for generating a natural tintinnid classification and a reliable reference for environmental surveys. These suggestions are broadly useful for protistologists because they exemplify data integration, quality/effort compromise, and the need for scientific collaborations.
Assuntos
Alveolados/citologia , Alveolados/genética , Biodiversidade , Cilióforos/citologia , Cilióforos/genética , Ecologia , Alveolados/classificação , Alveolados/isolamento & purificação , Animais , Cilióforos/classificação , Cilióforos/isolamento & purificação , Classificação , Código de Barras de DNA Taxonômico , DNA de Protozoário , Filogenia , Especificidade da EspécieRESUMO
This study focuses on the utility of molecular markers for the discrimination of closely related species in tintinnid ciliates. We analyzed the ecologically important genus Helicostomella by sequencing part of the large-subunit rDNA (LSU rDNA) and the 5.8S rDNA combined with the internally transcribed spacer regions 1 and 2 (5.8S rDNA-ITS) from forty-five individuals collected in NW and SW Atlantic waters and after culturing. Although all described Helicostomella species represent a continuum of morphologies, forms with shorter or longer loricae would correspond to different species according to previous molecular data. Here we observed that long forms show both crypticity (i.e. two almost identical long forms with different DNA sequences) and polymorphism (i.e. some long forms develop significantly shorter loricae after culturing). Reviewing all available tintinnid sequences, we found that 1) three Helicostomella clusters are consistent with different species from a molecular perspective, although these clusters are neither clearly differentiated by their loricae nor unambiguously linked to described species, 2) Helicostomella is closely related (probably to the family or genus level) to four "Tintinnopsis-like" morphospecies, and 3) if considered separately, neither LSU rDNA nor 5.8S rDNA-ITS completely discriminate closely related species, thus supporting the use of multi-gene barcodes for tintinnids.
Assuntos
Cilióforos/classificação , Cilióforos/genética , Variação Genética , Oceano Atlântico , Cilióforos/citologia , Análise por Conglomerados , DNA de Protozoário/química , DNA de Protozoário/genética , DNA Ribossômico/química , DNA Ribossômico/genética , DNA Espaçador Ribossômico/química , DNA Espaçador Ribossômico/genética , Microscopia , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Filogenia , RNA Ribossômico/genética , RNA Ribossômico 5,8S/genética , Água do Mar/parasitologia , Análise de Sequência de DNARESUMO
We evaluated the small- and large-subunit rDNA (SSU and LSU, respectively) for their ability to discriminate morphospecies of tintinnid ciliates. Multiple individuals from 29 morphospecies were identified according to microscopically-observed characteristics of the lorica, and then sequenced for both loci (21 new species for SSU and all of them new for LSU). Sequences from public databases were included in our analyses, and two hypervariable SSU regions (V4 and V9) were separately examined. Of the four regions, LSU is the most useful as a potential barcoding tool. It showed a gap in distances within and between species, and discriminated the maximum number of phylotypes (86% at 1% cut-off). SSU and V4 were less consistent, sometimes lumping together very distinctive morphospecies, even at the 1% level of sequence divergence. V9 was the least reliable marker in delimitating morphospecies. The agreement in sequences and morphology suggests that the lorica is useful for species discrimination, even in agglomerated forms. However, the observation of both genetically constant yet polymorphic groups of species, as well as similar morphospecies with divergent sequences, indicates that previous taxonomic schemes are complementary to the emerging molecular database.
Assuntos
Cilióforos/citologia , Cilióforos/genética , Cilióforos/classificação , Análise por Conglomerados , DNA de Protozoário/química , DNA de Protozoário/genética , DNA Ribossômico/química , DNA Ribossômico/genética , Genes de RNAr , Microscopia , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Filogenia , RNA de Protozoário/genética , RNA Ribossômico/genética , RNA Ribossômico 18S/genética , Análise de Sequência de DNARESUMO
Concatenated sequences of small- and large-subunit rRNA genes were used to infer the phylogeny of 29 species in six genera of Tintinnida. We confirmed previous results on the positions of major clusters and the grouping of various genera, including Stenosemella, the paraphyletic Tintinnopsis, the newly investigated Helicostomella, and some species of the polyphyletic Favella. Tintinnidium and Eutintinnus were found to be monophyletic. This study contributes to tintinnid phylogenetic reconstruction by increasing both the number of species and the range of genetic markers analyzed.
