Defining DNA-based operational taxonomic units for microbial-eukaryote ecology.

ABSTRACT: DNA sequence information has increasingly been used in ecological research on microbial eukaryotes. Sequence-based approaches have included studies of the total diversity of selected ecosystems, studies of the autecology of ecologically relevant species, and identification and enumeration of species of interest for human health. It is still uncommon, however, to delineate protistan species based on their genetic signatures. The reluctance to assign species-level designations based on DNA sequences is in part a consequence of the limited amount of sequence information presently available for many free-living microbial eukaryotes and in part a consequence of the problematic nature of and debate surrounding the microbial species concept. Despite the difficulties inherent in assigning species

SUBMITTER: Caron DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2747860 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature