Cafeteria in extreme environments: Investigations on C. burkhardae and three new species from the Atacama Desert and the deep ocean.

The heterotrophic nanoflagellate genus Cafeteria has been found to be ubiquitously distributed in the marine realm. We could isolate and cultivate ten strains morphologically similar to Cafeteria from various types of environment, including the deep sea, brackish waters and also meso- to hypersaline inland waters. Molecular analyses (18S rDNA, 28S rDNA) of newly isolated strains from the marine realm resulted in four more Cafeteria burkhardae strains from the deep North Atlantic Ocean and one new species (C.

Biogeography, autecology, and phylogeny of Percolomonads based on newly described species.

Percolomonads (Heterolobosea) are aquatic heterotrophic flagellates frequently found in saline waters up to hypersaline environments. We isolated and cultivated seven strains of percolomonad flagellates from marine waters and sediments as well as from a hypersaline inland lake in the Atacama Desert. Morphological characterizations, comprising light and scanning electron microscopy, revealed only slight differences between the strains mainly limited to the cell shape, length of flagella, and length of the ventral feeding groove.

Diversity and phylogeny of percolomonads based on newly discovered species from hypersaline and marine waters.

Percolomonads are common freshwater, marine and hypersaline tetraflagellated organisms. Current phylogenetic analyses of eukaryotes comprise only two species of this underinvestigated family. Here, we studied the morphology, salinity tolerance and 18S rDNA gene-based phylogeny of seven percolomonad cultures.

High and specific diversity of protists in the deep-sea basins dominated by diplonemids, kinetoplastids, ciliates and foraminiferans.

Heterotrophic protists (unicellular eukaryotes) form a major link from bacteria and algae to higher trophic levels in the sunlit ocean. Their role on the deep seafloor, however, is only fragmentarily understood, despite their potential key function for global carbon cycling. Using the approach of combined DNA metabarcoding and cultivation-based surveys of 11 deep-sea regions, we show that protist communities, mostly overlooked in current deep-sea foodweb models, are highly specific, locally diverse and have little overlap to pelagic communities.

Global comparison of bicosoecid Cafeteria-like flagellates from the deep ocean and surface waters, with reorganization of the family Cafeteriaceae.

Cafeteria is one of the most common and ecologically significant genera of heterotrophic nanoflagellates in marine plankton. We could isolate and cultivate 29 strains morphologically similar to Cafeteria obtained from surface waters and the deep sea all over the world's ocean. Morphological characterization obtained by high resolution microscopy revealed only small differences between the strains.

A barotolerant ciliate isolated from the abyssal deep sea of the North Atlantic: Euplotes dominicanus sp. n. (Ciliophora, Euplotia).

A new Euplotes species, isolated from abyssal depths (>4000 m) of the North Atlantic Ocean, was described based on morphology, ciliary pattern and molecular data. Euplotes dominicanus sp. n.