title: Cellular identity of an 18S rRNA gene sequence clade within the class Kinetoplastea: the novel genus Actuariola gen. nov. (Neobodonida) with description of the type species Actuariola framvarensis sp. nov.
abstract: Environmental molecular surveys of microbial diversity have uncovered a vast number of novel taxonomic units in the eukaryotic tree of life that are exclusively known by their small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene signatures. In this study, we reveal the cellular and taxonomic identity of a novel eukaryote SSU rRNA gene sequence clade within the Kinetoplastea. Kinetoplastea are ubiquitously distributed flagellated protists of high ecological and medical importance. We isolated an organism from the oxic-anoxic interface of the anoxic Framvaren Fjord (Norway), which branches within an unidentified kinetoplastean sequence clade. Ultrastructural studies revealed a typical cellular organization that characterized the flagellated isolate as a member of the order Neobodonida Vickerman 2004, which contains five genera. The isolate differed in several distinctive characters from Dimastigella, Cruzella, Rhynchobodo and Rhynchomonas. The arrangement of the microtubular rod that supports the apical cytostome and the cytopharynx differed from the diagnosis of the fifth described genus (Neobodo Vickerman 2004) within the order Neobodonida. On the basis of both molecular and microscopical data, a novel genus within the order Neobodonida, Actuariola gen. nov., is proposed. Here, we characterize its type species, Actuariola framvarensis sp. nov., and provide an in situ tool to access the organism in nature and study its ecology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger Str. 14, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stoeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger Str. 14, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: M V Julian
authors.initials: MVJ
authors.lastname: Schwarz
authors.affiliation: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Limnology, Mondseestr. 9, A-5310 Mondsee, Austria.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boenigk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biology, University Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, D-70550 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schweikert
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: von der Heyden
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, TU Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger Str. 14, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Behnke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016830:Kinetoplastida / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S