Morphological and phylogenetic studies on three members of the genus Pseudochilodonopsis (Ciliophora, Cyrtophoria) isolated from brackish waters in China, including a novel species, Pseudochilodonopsis quadrivacuolata sp. nov.
Three cyrtophorian ciliates isolated from brackish biotopes in China, Pseudochilodonopsis quadrivacuolata sp. nov., Pseudochilodonopsis fluviatilisFoissner, 1988 and Pseudochilodonopsis mutabilisFoissner, 1981, were investigated using living observation and protargol-staining methods. P. quadrivacuolata sp. nov. can be characterized as follows: cell size 50-70 × 30-40 μm in vivo; body oval with posterior end rounded; four tetragonally positioned contractile vacuoles; 12-15 nematodesmal rods; five right and six left somatic kineties; terminal fragment positioned apically on dorsal side, consisting of 11-14 basal bodies; four or five fragments in preoral kinety. P. fluviatilis and P. mutabilis were generally consistent with previous descriptions. In addition, a brief revision and a key to Pseudochilodonopsis are presented. The small-subunit (SSU) rRNA gene was also sequenced to support the identification of these species. Phylogenetic analyses based on molecular data indicate that the genera Pseudochilodonopsis and Chilodonella are closely related and both are well outlined; that is, all known congeners for which SSU rRNA gene sequence data are available group together, forming the core part of the family Chilodonellidae.
Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, PR China.
Zhishuai
Z
Qu
College of Fisheries and Life Science, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai 201306, PR China.
Hongbo
H
Pan
Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia.
Khaled A S
KAS
Al-Rasheid
Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, PR China.
Xiaozhong
X
Hu
Institute of Evolution & Marine Biodiversity, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266003, PR China.
Shan
S
Gao
D002681:China; D016798:Ciliophora / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016053:RNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D000068357:Saline Waters; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
D016053:RNA, Protozoan