title: Morphology and morphogenesis of Apoholosticha sinica n. g., n. sp. (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia), with consideration of its systematic position among urostylids.
abstract: This paper investigates the morphology, morphogenesis and SSU rRNA gene-based phylogeny of Apoholosticha sinica n. g., n. sp., isolated from mangrove wetland in Shenzhen, southern China. The new genus Apoholosticha is characterized by its bipartite adoral zone, clearly differentiated frontal cirri arranged in a bicorona, midventral complex composed of midventral pairs only, one marginal cirral row on each side, presence of frontoterminal and transverse cirri, and the lack of a buccal cirrus and caudal cirri. The type species, Apoholosticha sinica n. sp. is diagnosed by the elongated body shape and two kinds of cortical granules. Its main morphogenetic features are similar to that of Pseudokeronopsis except for (1) no buccal cirrus is formed and (2) its macronuclear nodules fuse into a single mass during cell division. Phylogenetic analyses for the new taxon indicate that Apoholosticha n. g. is most closely related to Nothoholosticha and Heterokeronopsis, and falls into the family Pseudokeronopsidae within the core Urostylida clade. In addition, a species that had been misidentified in previous literature is here recognized and assigned to the new genus as Apoholosticha sepetibensis (Wanick and Silva-Neto, 2004) n. comb. (basionym: Pseudokeronopsis sepetibensis Wanick and Silva-Neto, 2004).
authors: Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors: Yangbo
authors: Y
authors: Fan
authors: Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China. Electronic address: chenxumiao.ouc@gmail.com.
authors: Xumiao
authors: X
authors: Chen
authors: Laboratory of Protozoology, Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, China.
authors: Xiaozhong
authors: X
authors: Hu
authors: The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering, Ministry of Education, Department of Biology and Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China.
authors: Chen
authors: C
authors: Shao
authors: Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Khaled A S
authors: KA
authors: Al-Rasheid
authors: Zoology Department, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
authors: Saleh A
authors: SA
authors: Al-Farraj
authors: Laboratory of Protozoology, Key Laboratory of Ecology and Environment Science in Guangdong Higher Education, College of Life Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China.
authors: Xiaofeng
authors: X
authors: Lin
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D016810:Hypotrichida / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009024:Morphogenesis / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal
keywords: Apoholosticha sinica n. g., n. sp.; Marine ciliates; Morphogenesis; Phylogeny; SSU rDNA; Taxonomy