Patterns and processes in microbial biogeography: do molecules and morphologies give the same answers?

ABSTRACT: Our knowledge on microbial biogeography depends on the way we define and study diversity. In contrast to most microbes, some protist lineages have conspicuous structures that allow comparisons of diversity concepts and measures-those based on molecules and those based on morphology. We analyzed a group of shell-bearing planktonic ciliates, the tintinnids, in a coast-to-ocean gradient using high-throughput sequencing and microscopy. First, we compared molecular operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and morphospecies in terms of assemblage composition, distribution and relationships with the environment. OTUs revealed potentially novel and rare taxa, while morphospecies showed clearer correlations with environmental factors, and both approaches coincided in supporting a coastal versus oceanic p

SUBMITTER: Santoferrara LF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4918432 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature