Abstract
Ciliates are unicellular eukaryotes known for their cellular complexity and wide range of natural habitats. How they adapt to their niches and what roles they play in ecology remain largely unknown. The genus Tetrahymena is among the best-studied groups of ciliates and one particular species, Tetrahymena thermophila, is a well-known laboratory model organism in cell and molecular biology, making it an excellent candidate for study in protist ecology. Here, based on cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene barcoding, we identify a total of 19 different putative Tetrahymena species and two closely related Glaucoma lineages isolated from distinct natural habitats, of which 13 are new species. These latter include 11 Tetrahymena species found in the bladder traps of Utricularia plants, the most species-rich and widely distributed aquatic carnivorous plant, thus revealing a previously unknown but significant symbiosis of Tetrahymena species living among the microbial community of Utricularia bladder traps. Additional species were collected using an artificial trap method we have developed. We show that diverse Tetrahymena species may live even within the same habitat and that their populations are highly dynamic, suggesting that the diversity and biomass of species worldwide is far greater than currently appreciated.
Highlights
Ciliated protozoans are unicellular eukaryotic organisms long known for their cellular and behavioral complexity[1]
We propose that Tetrahymena has adopted a specialized feeding behavior that involved adapting to the commensal microbial community in Utricularia bladder traps, possibly allowing it to play a critical role as a scavenger in this particular environment
BT-1 is potentially a new species closely related to T. malaccensis, from which it has a COX1 sequence divergence of ~3%, and our other seven new sequences likely represent new species. These results indicate that large www.nature.com/scientificreports numbers of diverse and hitherto unknown Tetrahymena species inhabit Utricularia bladder traps and our data confirm the significant relationship between Utricularia plants and Tetrahymena ciliates in natural environments
Summary
Ciliated protozoans are unicellular eukaryotic organisms long known for their cellular and behavioral complexity[1]. Several genera (e.g., Tetrahymena, Paramecium, Oxytricha, Stylonychia Euplotes, Blepharisma, and Stentor) have become model taxa for research in many areas of basic biology Tetrahymena is one such genus and T. thermophila is one of the best-known laboratory eukaryotic models for genetics. Current knowledge of Tetrahymena biology is limited to a few laboratory strains that have been selected for particular traits of interest in scientific research Topics like how it interacts with metazoan hosts and how it adapts to natural environments requires further study to elucidate. Recent studies indicate that a diverse microbial community exists within Utricularia bladder traps, with cohabiting ciliates perhaps representing commensals feeding on this community or on decaying remains[24,25,26]. The abundance and diversity of ciliates living in Utricularia bladder traps remains to be fully established
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