title: Class Cariacotrichea, a novel ciliate taxon from the anoxic Cariaco Basin, Venezuela.
abstract: The majority of environmental micro-organisms identified with the rRNA approach have never been visualized. Thus, their reliable classification and taxonomic assignment is often difficult or even impossible. In our preliminary 18S rRNA gene sequencing work from the world's largest anoxic marine environment, the Cariaco Basin (Caribbean Sea, Venezuela), we detected a ciliate clade, designated previously as CAR_H [Stoeck, S., Taylor, G. T. & Epstein, S. S. (2003). Appl Environ Microbiol 63, 5656-5663]. Here, we combine the traditional rRNA detection method of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confirm the phylogenetic separation of the CAR_H sequences from all other ciliate classes by showing an outstanding morphological feature of this group: a unique, archway-shaped kinety surrounding the oral apparatus and extending to the posterior body end in CAR_H cells. Based on this specific feature and the molecular phylogenies, we propose a novel ciliate class, Cariacotrichea nov. cl.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 313 Mugar Building, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Edgcomb
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología de Organismos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Sartenejas, Baruta, Estado Miranda, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Faria
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology, University of Salzburg, Hellbrunnerstrasse 34, Salzburg, A 5020, Austria.
authors.forename: Wilhelm
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Foissner
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 313 Mugar Building, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Fowle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 313 Mugar Building, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Tine
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hohmann
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología de Organismos, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Sartenejas, Baruta, Estado Miranda, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
authors.forename: Gordon T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, Comenius University, Mlynská dolina B-1, Bratislava, SK 84215, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vd'ačný
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, 313 Mugar Building, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Slava S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Epstein
mesh_terms: D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry / Q000469:parasitology*; D014687:Venezuela
chemical_list: D012335:RNA, Ribosomal