Phylogeny and species delimitation of ciliates in the genus <i>Spirostomum</i> (Class, Heterotrichea) using single-cell transcriptomes.

ABSTRACT: Ciliates are single-celled microbial eukaryotes that diverged from other eukaryotic lineages over a billion years ago. The extensive evolutionary timespan of ciliate has led to enormous genetic and phenotypic changes, contributing significantly to their high level of diversity. Recent analyses based on molecular data have revealed numerous cases of cryptic species complexes in different ciliate lineages, demonstrating the need for a robust approach to delimit species boundaries and elucidate phylogenetic relationships. Heterotrich ciliate species of the genus Spirostomum are abundant in freshwater and brackish environments and are commonly used as biological indicators for assessing water quality. However, some Spirostomum species are difficult to identify due to a lack of di

SUBMITTER: Ahmed Shazib SU 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11160781 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature