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A Case Building Ciliate in the Genus Pseudoblepharisma Found in Subtropical Fresh Water.

Hines, H.N., McCarthy, P.J. and Esteban, G. F., 2022. A Case Building Ciliate in the Genus Pseudoblepharisma Found in Subtropical Fresh Water. Diversity, 14 (3), 174.

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DOI: 10.3390/d14030174

Abstract

The genus Pseudoblepharisma is currently comprised of only one species, P. tenue, and one variant, P. tenue var. viride, both described as free‐living ciliates thriving in oxygen depleted freshwater habitats of Europe. Here we report on this genus being discovered from subtropical freshwa-ters of Florida, USA. The Florida strain diverges from the P. tenue by being much larger, as well as having a far higher density of intracellular symbiotic green algae, resembling P. tenue var. viride. Unlike its European counterparts, the North American strain was observed to build a lorica, likely useful for protection and feeding; this has not been previously described for this genus. In contrast to P. tenue, the Florida strain does not have endosymbiotic purple bacteria. Despite large distances between sampling zones, the species is a close match at a morphological level to Pseudoblepharisma tenue var. viride. We provide the first 18S rRNA gene sequence for this species, allowing future in-vestigations into the biogeography of this genus. As intensive sampling efforts continue to increase, cryptic microbial species will continue to be recorded from diverse freshwater habitats at a global scale.

Item Type:Article
ISSN:1424-2818
Additional Information:This article belongs to the Special Issue Cryptic Biodiversity in Freshwater Ecosystems
Uncontrolled Keywords:biogeography; ciliate; cryptic biodiversity; ecology; freshwater; microbiology; protist
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:36767
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:22 Mar 2022 13:48
Last Modified:22 Mar 2022 13:48

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