Reductitherus cryptostomus n. gen., n. sp. (Ciliophora: Armophorea: Clevelandellida), a remarkable new nyctotherid from an Australian cockroach, Parapanesthia gigantea (Blaberidae: Panesthiinae).

Ciliates of the family Nyctotheridae (Armophorea: Clevelandellida) are frequent intestinal symbionts of various invertebrates and some poikilotherm vertebrates. Depending on the classification scheme, there are between 15 and 18 recognized genera of Nyctotheridae, the majority of which exhibit a rather uniform morphology. They have round to ellipsoidal cells with an adoral zone of membranelles that begins anteriorly in an adoral groove and continues posteriorly into the buccal cavity where it extends deep into the cell in the peristomial funnel.

Anaerocyclidiidae fam. nov. (Oligohymenophorea, Scuticociliatia): A newly recognized major lineage of anaerobic ciliates hosting prokaryotic symbionts.

The research on anaerobic ciliates, to date, has mainly been focused on representatives of obligately anaerobic classes such as Armophorea or Plagiopylea. In this study, we focus on the anaerobic representatives of the subclass Scuticociliatia, members of the class Oligohymenophorea, which is mainly composed of aerobic ciliates. Until now, only a single anaerobic species, Cyclidium porcatum (here transferred to the genus Anaerocyclidium gen.

Rediscovery of Remarkably Rare Anaerobic Tentaculiferous Ciliate Genera and (Ciliophora: Litostomatea).

Free-living anaerobic ciliates are of considerable interest from an ecological and an evolutionary standpoint. Extraordinary tentacle-bearing predatory lineages have evolved independently several times within the phylum Ciliophora, including two rarely encountered anaerobic litostomatean genera, and . In this study, we significantly extend the morphological and phylogenetic characterization of these two poorly known groups of predatory ciliates.

(Gelei, 1929) Gelei, 1954: a unique hypotrichid ciliate having a highly specialized developmental pattern during binary division.

Unlabelled: In sharp contrast to their pelagic relatives, the oligotrichs, the overwhelming majority of hypotrich ciliates inhabit the benthos. Only a few species, including those of the genus Ilowaisky, 1921, have adapted to a planktonic lifestyle. The ontogenetic mode of the highly differentiated ciliate, (Gelei, 1929) Gelei, 1954, is unknown.

Morphology and phylogenetic position of three anaerobic ciliates from the classes Odontostomatea and Muranotrichea (Ciliophora).

The diversity of the classes Odontostomatea and Muranotrichea, which contain solely obligate anaerobes, is poorly understood. We studied two populations of Mylestoma sp., one of Saprodinium dentatum (Odontostomatea), two of Muranothrix felix sp.

Taxonomy and molecular phylogeny of two poorly known ciliate genera, Balantidion and Acropisthium (Protista: Ciliophora: Litostomatea), including a new species of Balantidion.

The class Litostomatea Small & Lynn, 1981 is a morphologically diverse ciliate group including hundreds of free-living and endocommensal species. The genera Acropisthium Perty, 1852 and Balantidion Eberhard, 1862 previously consisted of one free-living freshwater species each. Here, we not only highlight additional morphological features of the two type species, but also investigate a new species, Balantidion foissneri sp.

Phylogenetic Position of Three Well-known Ciliates from the Controversial Order Loxocephalida Jankowski, 1980 (Scuticociliatia, Oligohymenophorea) and Urozona buetschlii (Schewiakoff, 1889) with Improved Morphological Descriptions.

Loxocephalids represent a nonmonophyletic assemblage of oligohymenophorean ciliates with morphological features common to both scuticociliates (mode of ontogenesis) and hymenostomes (morphology of the oral structures). In phylogenetic analyses that include both nuclear and mitochondrial molecular markers, relationships among loxocephalid ciliates are still largely unresolved. With the aim to clarify the phylogeny of the controversial order Loxocephalida Jankowski, 1980, we provide the first 18S rRNA gene sequences of three morphologically well-described ciliates currently included in the order, namely Cinetochilum margaritaceum, Zitheron hovassei, and Zitheron muscorum comb.

Taxonomy and Molecular Phylogeny of Two New Urostylid Ciliates (Protozoa: Ciliophora) From Chinese Wetlands and Establishment of a New Genus.

Hypotrich ciliates with evolutionary novelties are continually being discovered, challenging the current taxonomic system and attracting increased attention. In the present work, two new urostylid ciliates, gen. nov.

New contributions to the taxonomy of urostylid ciliates (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia), with establishment of a new genus and new species.

Hypotrichia, one of the most complex and highly differentiated groups in Ciliophora, has been the object of extensive studies, especially in recent years. Nevertheless, methodological difficulties and insufficient faunistic studies have limited our understanding of their biodiversity and phylogeny. In this study, one novel urostylid ciliate, Pseudoholosticha zhaoi nov.

The Function and Evolution of Motile DNA Replication Systems in Ciliates.

DNA replication is a ubiquitous and conserved cellular process. However, regulation of DNA replication is only understood in a small fraction of organisms that poorly represent the diversity of genetic systems in nature. Here we used computational and experimental approaches to examine the function and evolution of one such system, the replication band (RB) in spirotrich ciliates, which is a localized, motile hub that traverses the macronucleus while replicating DNA.

Reevaluation of the 'well-known' Paraurostyla weissei complex, with notes on the ontogenesis of a new Paraurostyla species (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia).

Two hypotrichous ciliates, Paraurostyla wuhanensis nov. spec. from Wuhan (China) and a new North American population of the Paraurostyla weissei complex, were studied based on live observations and protargol impregnation.

Morphological and molecular characterization of two Trichodina (Ciliophora, Peritrichia) species from freshwater fishes in China.

In the present study, we provide morphological and molecular characterization of two Trichodina species, T. acuta Lom, 1970 and T. funduliWellborn, 1967, isolated from koi (Cyprinus carpio) and loach (Paramisgurnus dabryanus), respectively.

Morphology, Morphogenesis, and Phylogeny of Urosoma caudata (Ehrenberg, 1833) Berger, 1999 (Ciliophora, Hypotrichia) based on a Chinese Population.

We report the morphology and morphogenesis of Urosoma caudata (Ehrenberg, 1833) Berger, 1999 based on in vivo observation and protargol impregnation and provide an improved diagnosis of U. caudata based on previous and current work. Urosoma caudata differs from its congeners mainly by the combination of the following features: tail-like posterior end, colorless cortical granules, and two macronuclear nodules.

Phylogeny of the ciliate family Psilotrichidae (Protista, Ciliophora), a curious and poorly-known taxon, with notes on two algae-bearing psilotrichids from Guam, USA.

Background: The classification of the family Psilotrichidae, a curious group of ciliated protists with unique morphological and ontogenetic features, is ambiguous and poorly understood particularly due to the lack of molecular data. Hence, the systematic relationship between this group and other taxa in the subclass Hypotrichia remains unresolved. In this paper the morphology and phylogenetics of species from two genera of Psilotrichida are studied to shed new light on the phylogeny and species diversity of this group of ciliates.

A Simple and Rapid Cryopreservation Technique for Ciliates: A Long-Term Storage Procedure Used for Marine Scuticociliates.

Pseudocohnilembus persalinus is a free-living marine scuticociliate that, as a new model organism, has been used in a wide variety of studies. However, long-term laboratory maintenance for this species is mainly achieved by subculture that requires rigorous culture environments and, too often, cultures of the organism die out for a variety of reasons. Successful transport of viable cultures also poses problems for researchers.

Transcriptome analysis on chlorpyrifos detoxification in Uronema marinum (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea).

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) pollution has drawn widespread concerns in aquatic environments due to its risks to ecologic system, however, the response mechanisms of ciliates to CPF pollution were poorly studied. In our current work, the degradation of CPF by ciliates and the morphological changes of ciliates after CPF exposure were investigated. In addition, the transcriptomic profiles of the ciliate Uronema marinum, with and without exposure with CPF, were detected using digital gene expression technologies.

Remodeling the Specificity of an Endosomal CORVET Tether Underlies Formation of Regulated Secretory Vesicles in the Ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila.

In the endocytic pathway of animals, two related complexes, called CORVET (class C core vacuole/endosome transport) and HOPS (homotypic fusion and protein sorting), act as both tethers and fusion factors for early and late endosomes, respectively. Mutations in CORVET or HOPS lead to trafficking defects and contribute to human disease, including immune dysfunction. HOPS and CORVET are conserved throughout eukaryotes, but remarkably, in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila, the HOPS-specific subunits are absent, while CORVET-specific subunits have proliferated.

Description of two species of caenomorphid ciliates (Ciliophora, Armophorea): Morphology and molecular phylogeny.

Most species in the anaerobic ciliate family Caenomorphidae Poche, 1913 lack detailed descriptions based on modern morphologic and molecular methods. In this report, two species, Caenomorpha medusula Perty, 1852 and Sulfonecta uniserialis (Levander, 1894) Jankowski, 1978, were isolated from freshwater anaerobic sediments in Qingdao, China. Another population of C.

Resolving relationships at the animal-fungal divergence: A molecular phylogenetic study of the protist trichomycetes (Ichthyosporea, Eccrinida).

Trichomycetes is a group of microorganisms that was considered a class of fungi comprising four orders of commensal, gut-dwelling endosymbionts obligately associated with arthropods. Since molecular phylogenies revealed two of those orders (Amoebidiales and Eccrinales="protist trichos") to be closely related to members of the protist class Ichthyosporea (=Mesomycetozoea), trichomycetes have been considered an ecological association of both early-diverging fungi and protists. Understanding of the taxonomy, evolution, and diversity of the protist trichos is lacking largely due to the difficulties inherent in species collection that have contributed to undersampling and understudy.

Molecular Phylogeny and Taxonomy of a New Freshwater Hymenostomatid from Northeastern China, with the Establishment of a New Genus Anteglaucoma gen. n. (Protista, Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea).

The morphology, infraciliature and SSU rDNA sequence of a new freshwater hymenostomatid ciliate, Anteglaucoma harbinensis gen. nov., spec.

Epidermal growth factor-induced stimulation of proliferation and gene expression changes in the hypotrichous ciliate, Stylonychia lemnae.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) induces proliferation of epidermal and epithelial tissues in mammals. However, the effect of EGF on the single-celled eukaryotes is not well characterized, especially in the protists. Ciliates, an important group of protists, are well characterized as both pollution indicators and model organisms for research.

Multigene-based phylogeny of the ciliate families Amphisiellidae and Trachelostylidae (Protozoa: Ciliophora: Hypotrichia).

Phylogenetic analyses of ciliated protozoa have been increasingly relied on multigene information, which was revealed to provide more robust interpretations than single-gene information. Previous studies showed that Amphisiellidae was an extremely divergent group within the order Stichotrichida, with species widely dispersed throughout the stichotrichid assemblage, while Trachelostylidae, excluding gonostomatid species, is a monophyletic group within the order Sporadotrichida. In the present study, we provide 38 new sequences of SSU-rDNA, ITS1-5.

Morphology, ontogenesis and molecular characterization of Atractos contortus Vörösváry, 1950 and Stichotricha aculeata Wrzesniowskiego, 1866 (Ciliophora, Stichotrichida) with consideration of their systematic positions.

Atractos contortus, a rare highly spiralized hypotrich ciliate, has not been studied by modern methods. Atractos contortus and Stichotricha aculeata are currently assigned to the Spirofildae. A Canadian population of A.

Redescription of Atopospira galeata (Kahl, 1927) nov. comb. and A. violacea (Kahl, 1926) nov. comb. with redefinition of Atopospira Jankowski, 1964 nov. stat. and Brachonella Jankowski, 1964 (Ciliophora, Armophorida).

The taxonomy of the Metopidae (Ciliophora, Armophorida) remains poorly understood since most of its members have not been studied by modern morphologic and molecular methods. Recent molecular investigations have indicated that the two most species-rich genera, Metopus and Brachonella, are likely nonmonophyletic with at least one well-supported 18S rDNA clade comprised of a species from each of these genera (Brachonella galeata and Metopus violaceus). We investigated these two species with silver impregnation and scanning electron microscopy.