Accuracy of protist diversity assessments: morphology compared with cloning and direct pyrosequencing of 18S rRNA genes and ITS regions using the conspicuous tintinnid ciliates as a case study.

ABSTRACT: Deep-sequencing technologies are becoming nearly routine to describe microbial community composition in environmental samples. The 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) pyrosequencing has revealed a vast diversity of infrequent sequences, leading to the proposition of the existence of an extremely diverse microbial 'rare biosphere'. Although rare microbes no doubt exist, critical views suggest that many rare sequences may actually be artifacts. However, information about how diversity revealed by molecular methods relates to that revealed by classical morphology approaches is practically nonexistent. To address this issue, we used different approaches to assess the diversity of tintinnid ciliates, a species-rich group in which species can be easily distinguished morphologically. We studied two Mediterr

SUBMITTER: Bachy C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3554406 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature