Improved description of the bipolar ciliate, Euplotes petzi, and definition of its basal position in the Euplotes phylogenetic tree

• Main Authors: DI GIUSEPPE, GRAZIANO, ERRA, FABRIZIO, DINI, FERNANDO, Francesco Paolo Frontini, Adriana Vallesi, Pierangelo Luporini
• Other Authors: DI GIUSEPPE, Graziano, Erra, Fabrizio, Francesco Paolo, Frontini, Dini, Fernando, Adriana, Vallesi, Pierangelo, Luporini
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Antarctic; Arctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11568/544267

2014AbstractData improving the characterization of the marine Euplotes species, E. petzi Wilbert and Song, 2008, were obtained frommorphological, ecological and genetic analyses of Antarctic and Arctic wild-type strains. This species is identified by a minute(mean size, 46 m × 32 m) and ellipsoidal cell body which is dorsally decorated with an argyrome of the double-patellatype, five dorsal kineties (of which the median one contains 8–10 dikinetids), five sharp-edged longitudinal ridges, and a rightanterior spur. Ventrally, it bears 10 fronto-ventral, five transverse, two caudal and two marginal cirri, 30–35 adoral membranelles,and three inconspicuous ridges. Euplotes petzi grows well at 4◦C on green algae, does not produce cysts, undergoes matingunder the genetic control of a multiple mating-type system, constitutively secretes water-borne pheromones, and behaves as apsychrophilic microorganism unable to survive at >15◦C. While the -tubulin gene sequence determination did not provideuseful information on the E. petzi molecular phylogeny, the small subunit rRNA (SSU rRNA) gene sequence determinationprovided solid evidence that E. petzi clusters with E. sinicus Jiang et al., 2010a, into a clade which represents the deepest branchat the base of the Euplotes phylogentic tree.