Morphology, ontogenetic features and SSU rRNA gene-based phylogeny of a soil ciliate, Bistichella cystiformans spec. nov. (Protista, Ciliophora, Stichotrichia)

• Published in: International journal of systematic and evolutionary microbiology Vol. 64; no. Pt 12; pp. 4049 - 4060
• Main Authors: Fan, Yangbo, Hu, Xiaozhong, Gao, Feng, Al-Farraj, Saleh A, Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England International Union of Microbiological Societies 01.12.2014
• Subjects: Avicennia; China; Ciliophora; Ciliophora - classification; Ciliophora - cytology; genes; Genes, rRNA; genetic markers; mangrove soils; microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; ontogeny; Phylogeny; ribosomal RNA; saline soils; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Soil Microbiology; Wetlands; China
• ISSN: 1466-5034; 1466-5026; 1466-5034
• DOI: 10.1099/ijs.0.066381-0

The morphology, ontogeny and SSU rRNA gene-based phylogeny of Bistichella cystiformans spec. nov., isolated from the slightly saline soil of a mangrove wetland in Zhanjiang, southern China, were investigated. The novel species was characterized by having five to eight buccal cirri arranged in a row, three to five transverse cirri, four macronuclear nodules aligned, and 17–32 and 20–34 cirri in frontoventral rows V and VI, respectively, both extending to the transverse cirri. The main ontogenetic features of the novel species were as follows: (1) the parental adoral zone of the membranelles is completely inherited by the proter; (2) the frontoventral and transverse cirri are formed in a six-anlagen mode; (3) basically, the frontal-ventral-transverse cirral anlagen II–V generate one transverse cirrus each at their posterior ends, while anlage VI provides no transverse cirrus; (4) both marginal rows and dorsal kineties develop intrakinetally, no dorsal kinety fragment is formed; and (5) the macronuclear nodules fuse into a single mass at the middle stage. Phylogenetic analyses based on the SSU rRNA gene showed that the novel species groups with the clade containing Bistichella variabilis , Parabistichella variabilis , Uroleptoides magnigranulosus and two species of the genus Orthoamphisiella . Given present knowledge, it was considered to be still too early to come to a final conclusion regarding the familial classification of the genus Bistichella ; further investigations of key taxa with additional molecular markers are required.