title: Epistylis portoalegrensis n. sp. (Ciliophora, Peritrichia): A New Freshwater Ciliate Species from Southern Brazil.
abstract: The peritrich ciliate Epistylis portoalegrensis n. sp. was found in two bodies of freshwater located in Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil. Morphological features were investigated using live and protargol-stained specimens. The zooids presented a vase to cylindrical shape narrowed at the scopula, and a mean size of 131 × 37 μm in vivo. A C-shaped macronucleus lay in the middle of the cell close to a single contractile vacuole. The oral infraciliature was typical for the genus, with all infundibular polykineties composed by three distinct rows of kinetosomes. Colonies are often nonbranched with no lateral stalk, carrying several zooids stemming from a single point. Specimens from the two sampling sites showed identical arrangement of the infraciliature, similar morphometry, identical 18S rDNA sequences, and a single nucleotide difference across the more variable ITS regions. Molecular phylogenetic analyses placed E. portoalegrensis in a well-supported clade containing other Epistylis species, within the order Vorticellida.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology, Faculty of Biology, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Straße, Building 14, D-67663, Kaiserslautern, Germany.|Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kühner
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Taiz L L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Simão
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lúcia S L
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Safi
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Gazulha
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eizirik
authors.affiliation: Faculdade de Biociências, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), Avenida Ipiranga 6681, Prédio 12, 90619-900, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
authors.forename: Laura R P
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Utz
mesh_terms: D064652:Basal Bodies / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001938:Brazil; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005618:Fresh Water / Q000469:parasitology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: 18S rDNA; ITS; infraciliature; morphology; peritrichs; zooids