DOCSLIB.ORG

You Are What You Eat

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
You Are What You Eat Br J Ophthalmol 2004;88:1113 1113 Br J Ophthalmol: first published as 10.1136/bjo.2004.049510 on 17 August 2004. Downloaded from Cover illustration.............................................................................. You are what you eat ebate over the smallest eye lenticular composition is not known, requires a definition of what the anatomy is. The lens consists of Dmakes an eye. The answer to this clear, concentrically arranged layers and question, generally given by those con- is poised above the pigment cup. The sidered authorities, is that an eye is an index of refraction of the lens is high organ that receives and recognises light at 1.52, but that would seem appro- and has the ability to define spatial priate since the organism is pelagic. detail. Specifically, an eye can compare Appropriate ray tracing documents that the amount of light coming from differ- rays striking the lens would come to ent directions. This definition means focus on the retinoid (the term used for that an unusual collection of photo- the presumed photosensitive portion of receptors that may perceive light, but the ocelloid), and the field of view is cannot tell direction or form of an thought to be about 30˚. The whole image, such as those found in the tail structure actually protrudes from the of some of the sea snakes, would not be cell, seemingly to point in different considered an eye. directions. A related species has been By most definitions then, the plank- Warnowia is an unusual ocelloid species documented to use its flagellum to because it also has a functional plastid (green at mediate phototaxis or at least orienta- tonic dinoflagellate, Erythropsidium, bottom of organism). The streaks you see on the must have among the smallest of eyes, right are the chromosomes! tion relating to light stimulus. Other since the creature is only 50–70 mmin dinoflagellates with an ocelloid have diameter. Next to nothing is known been documented to have a pigment single celled kingdom. Protists are about its genetics or visual mechanisms; within the eye cup that reflects and mainly aquatic, but terrestrial species nevertheless, we do know that this absorbs blue-green wavelengths with a remarkable eukaryote speaks volumes do exist in moist soils. Single celled they strong directional component. Such about evolution’s creativity and empha- may be, but simple they are not. These light was found to be focused on the sis on vision, although the term ‘‘vision’’ diverse and adaptable species often have basal portion of the longitudinal flagel- goes beyond an eye and must include specialised features including chloro- lum and presumably contributed to some degree of interpretation of the plasts, toxins (responsible for the red intracellular communication (Keimer image. It is doubtful that this organism tide), bioluminescence, and flagella, G, Reflective properties of different eyespot interprets any image. allowing them to occupy otherwise types in dinoflagellates 1999;150:311–23). Dinoflagellates are protists, or single challenging niches. Many are commen- These rather perplexing creatures celled nucleated organisms. Such single sals, saprophytes, or parasites––some- have been seen to chase prey, hence http://bjo.bmj.com/ celled eukaryotes (organisms that have times they parasitise each other. must be predators. And yet, they have cells with nuclei) have been traced at Certain flagellated protozoa are chloroplasts. Other related protists are least to the Cambrian period (see known to have phototaxis, possess an known to be so opportunistic as to be February 2004 BJO cover essay) or even eyespot, and can probably sense direc- autotrophic (photosynthetic) when light the Precambrian, but fossil records tion and perhaps even intensity of light is plentiful, and heterotrophic (eat other extend the reign of protists to at least with these grouped pigment granules. organisms) in the dark. These bizarre But one group of flagellates actually dinoflagellates, then, are neither plant the Lower Middle Proterozoic era, about on September 23, 2021 by guest. Protected copyright. 1.2 billion years ago. Technically, a does better than that—the dinoflagel- nor animal, but have components of protist does not develop from a blastula, lates. each. so it is not an animal; it does not Our cover species, Erythropsidium,is Lynn Margulis, in her recent book, develop from an embryo, so it is not a one of several dinoflagellates that are Acquiring Genomes, asks a rather pro- plant; it does not develop from spores, known to have an ocelloid complex found question that would follow once so it is not a fungus; but it does contain enough to resemble an eye. One such one knows of these dinoflagellates and a nucleus so it is not a prokaryote or dinoflagellate is known to have a lens, their subcellular ocelloid. Could these bacterium. Protists are varied and most or hyalosome, that can change shape, an creatures have been the source of the unusual. Some protists, for example, ability that could be considered a form first eye? Perhaps, another protist or have 100 times the amount of DNA that of accommodation. There is also a clear metazoan did not evolve an eye, but human cells have. Most zoologists space overlying a pigment cup that is rather co-opted one from a dinoflagel- believe protists belong in their own filled with carotenoid globules and some late by ingestion. In that scenario, kingdom. unknown form of visual pigment. The evolutionary refinements and improve- Beetles are the most plentiful animal pigment cup, also known as the mela- ments eventually led to other forms of species (July 2004 BJO for review), but nosome, is probably of plastid (chloro- eyes including both those of compound the protists are probably more plentiful plast) origin and is divided into two and camera style. You are what you eat. still. Few would hazard a guess as to parts, including the retinoid or retinal I R Schwab how many nucleated algae, water body of precisely aligned membranes University of California, Davis, Sacramento, moulds, slime nets, diatoms, and other within a layer of carotenoid and mela- CA, USA; [email protected] such species exist, and we surely must nin pigments. A related dinoflagellate Photographs and essay advice (thanks for have an inadequate understanding and has been studied in an attempt to both) by FJR ‘‘Max’’ Taylor, University of count of this virtually uncountable analyse the lens, and although the British Columbia,Vancouver, Canada. www.bjophthalmol.com.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Biophotonic Probes for Bio-Detection and Imaging Ting Pan1,Dengyunlu1, Hongbao Xin 1 and Baojun Li 1
    Pan et al. Light: Science & Applications (2021) 10:124 Official journal of the CIOMP 2047-7538 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41377-021-00561-2 www.nature.com/lsa REVIEW ARTICLE Open Access Biophotonic probes for bio-detection and imaging Ting Pan1,DengyunLu1, Hongbao Xin 1 and Baojun Li 1 Abstract The rapid development of biophotonics and biomedical sciences makes a high demand on photonic structures to be interfaced with biological systems that are capable of manipulating light at small scales for sensitive detection of biological signals and precise imaging of cellular structures. However, conventional photonic structures based on artificial materials (either inorganic or toxic organic) inevitably show incompatibility and invasiveness when interfacing with biological systems. The design of biophotonic probes from the abundant natural materials, particularly biological entities such as virus, cells and tissues, with the capability of multifunctional light manipulation at target sites greatly increases the biocompatibility and minimizes the invasiveness to biological microenvironment. In this review, advances in biophotonic probes for bio-detection and imaging are reviewed. We emphatically and systematically describe biological entities-based photonic probes that offer appropriate optical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability with different optical functions from light generation, to light transportation and light modulation. Three representative biophotonic probes, i.e., biological lasers, cell-based biophotonic waveguides and
    [Show full text]
  • RS BA Meeting.2016
    Biological Action in Read-Write Genome Evolution Royal Society-British Academy, “New trends in evolutionary biology,” November 7-9, 2016 James A. Shapiro University of Chicago [email protected] www.shapiro.bsd.uchicago.edu Living Organisms Regularly Use Generic Activities to Facilitate Evolution • Taxonomic divergences and adaptive innovations often result from abrupt, widespread cell-mediated and biochemical modifications of RW genomes rather than gradual accumulation of independent localized copying errors in ROM genomes. • Abrupt genome rewriting processes include symbiogenesis, horizontal DNA transfers, interspecific hybridizations, and mobilization of repetitive DNA elements to rewire genome networks and regulatory ncRNAs. • Ecological conditions and population interactions stimulate evolutionary variation. • Conclusion: living organisms have core biological/molecular tools to rewrite their genomes actively when challenged. Well-documented classes of active RW genome inscription lead repeatedly to adaptive and taxonomic novelties: • Hereditary variation, adaptations and taxonomic originations by cell mergers (symbiogenesis); • Acquisition of evolved functional adaptations from other taxaa by horizontal DNA transfers; • Taxonomic originations and adaptive radiations by interspecific hybridizations and whole genome doublings; • Protein evolution by exon shuffling; • Amplification of so-called “noncoding” repetitive components in the genome as evolution produces increasingly complex organisms; • Mobile DNA elements rewiring taxonomically-specific
    [Show full text]
  • Living Organisms Author Their Read-Write Genomes in Evolution
    biology Review Living Organisms Author Their Read-Write Genomes in Evolution James A. Shapiro ID Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chicago GCIS W123B, 979 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, USA; [email protected]; Tel.: +1-773-702-1625 Academic Editor: Andrés Moya Received: 23 August 2017; Accepted: 28 November 2017; Published: 6 December 2017 Abstract: Evolutionary variations generating phenotypic adaptations and novel taxa resulted from complex cellular activities altering genome content and expression: (i) Symbiogenetic cell mergers producing the mitochondrion-bearing ancestor of eukaryotes and chloroplast-bearing ancestors of photosynthetic eukaryotes; (ii) interspecific hybridizations and genome doublings generating new species and adaptive radiations of higher plants and animals; and, (iii) interspecific horizontal DNA transfer encoding virtually all of the cellular functions between organisms and their viruses in all domains of life. Consequently, assuming that evolutionary processes occur in isolated genomes of individual species has become an unrealistic abstraction. Adaptive variations also involved natural genetic engineering of mobile DNA elements to rewire regulatory networks. In the most highly evolved organisms, biological complexity scales with “non-coding” DNA content more closely than with protein-coding capacity. Coincidentally, we have learned how so-called “non-coding” RNAs that are rich in repetitive mobile DNA sequences are key regulators of complex phenotypes. Both biotic and abiotic ecological challenges serve as triggers for episodes of elevated genome change. The intersections of cell activities, biosphere interactions, horizontal DNA transfers, and non-random Read-Write genome modifications by natural genetic engineering provide a rich molecular and biological foundation for understanding how ecological disruptions can stimulate productive, often abrupt, evolutionary transformations.
    [Show full text]
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology Biomed Central
    BMC Evolutionary Biology BioMed Central Research article Open Access Molecular phylogeny of ocelloid-bearing dinoflagellates (Warnowiaceae) as inferred from SSU and LSU rDNA sequences Mona Hoppenrath*1,4, Tsvetan R Bachvaroff2, Sara M Handy3, Charles F Delwiche3 and Brian S Leander1 Address: 1Departments of Botany and Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, 2Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037-0028, USA, 3Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4407, USA and 4Current address : Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Deutsches Zentrum für Marine Biodiversitätsforschung (DZMB), Südstrand 44, D-26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany Email: Mona Hoppenrath* - [email protected]; Tsvetan R Bachvaroff - [email protected]; Sara M Handy - [email protected]; Charles F Delwiche - [email protected]; Brian S Leander - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 25 May 2009 Received: 24 February 2009 Accepted: 25 May 2009 BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9:116 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-116 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/116 © 2009 Hoppenrath et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Dinoflagellates represent a major lineage of unicellular eukaryotes with unparalleled diversity and complexity in morphological features. The monophyly of dinoflagellates has been convincingly demonstrated, but the interrelationships among dinoflagellate lineages still remain largely unresolved. Warnowiid dinoflagellates are among the most remarkable eukaryotes known because of their possession of highly elaborate ultrastructural systems: pistons, nematocysts, and ocelloids.
    [Show full text]
  • BMC Evolutionary Biology Biomed Central
    BMC Evolutionary Biology BioMed Central Research article Open Access Molecular phylogeny of ocelloid-bearing dinoflagellates (Warnowiaceae) as inferred from SSU and LSU rDNA sequences Mona Hoppenrath*1,4, Tsvetan R Bachvaroff2, Sara M Handy3, Charles F Delwiche3 and Brian S Leander1 Address: 1Departments of Botany and Zoology, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada, 2Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037-0028, USA, 3Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-4407, USA and 4Current address : Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Deutsches Zentrum für Marine Biodiversitätsforschung (DZMB), Südstrand 44, D-26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany Email: Mona Hoppenrath* - [email protected]; Tsvetan R Bachvaroff - [email protected]; Sara M Handy - [email protected]; Charles F Delwiche - [email protected]; Brian S Leander - [email protected] * Corresponding author Published: 25 May 2009 Received: 24 February 2009 Accepted: 25 May 2009 BMC Evolutionary Biology 2009, 9:116 doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-116 This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/9/116 © 2009 Hoppenrath et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background: Dinoflagellates represent a major lineage of unicellular eukaryotes with unparalleled diversity and complexity in morphological features. The monophyly of dinoflagellates has been convincingly demonstrated, but the interrelationships among dinoflagellate lineages still remain largely unresolved. Warnowiid dinoflagellates are among the most remarkable eukaryotes known because of their possession of highly elaborate ultrastructural systems: pistons, nematocysts, and ocelloids.
    [Show full text]
  • Covacevich Et Al Archaea Cs
    1 First Archaeal rDNA sequences from coastal waters of Argentina: 2 unexpected PCR characterization by using eukaryotic primers 3 Running title: First Archaea rDNA sequences from the Argentine Sea 4 5 Primeras secuencias de ADNr de Archaea en aguas costeras de 6 Argentina: inesperada caracterización por PCR usando cebadores para 7 eucariotas 8 Titulo corto: Primeras Secuencias de ADNr de Archaea del Mar Argentino 9 10 F Covacevich 1*, RI Silva 2, AC Cumino 1, G Caló 1, RM Negri 2, GL Salerno 1 11 12 1Centro de Estudios de Biodiversidad y Biotecnología (CEBB), Centro de Investigaciones 13 Biológicas (CIB), FIBA, Vieytes 3103 - 7600 Mar del Plata – Argentina. 14 *Corresponding author E-mail: [email protected] 15 2 Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero (INIDEP), Mar del Plata, 16 Argentina 17 18 Present address: F Covacevich, Estación Experimental Agropecuaria INTA-FCA, 19 CC 276, 7620 Balcarce, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 20 AC Cumino, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del 21 Plata, Mar del Plata, Argentina 22 1 1 2 ABSTRACT. Many members of Archaea, a group of prokaryotes recognized three 3 decades ago, colonize extreme environments. However, new research is showing that 4 Achaeans are also quite abundant in the plankton of the open sea, where are fundamental 5 components that play a key role in the biogeochemical cycles. Although the widespread 6 distribution of Archaea the marine environment is well documented there are no reports 7 on the detection of Archaea in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean. During the search of 8 picophytoplankton sequences using eukaryotic universal primers, we retrieved archaeal 9 rDNA sequences from surface samples collected during Spring at the fixed EPEA Station 10 (38º28’S-57º41’W, Argentine Sea).
    [Show full text]
  • Exaptations.Pdf
    Prospects & Overviews Problems & Paradigms How exaptations facilitated photosensory evolution: Seeing the light by accident Gregory S. Gavelis1)2)Ã, Patrick J. Keeling2) and Brian S. Leander2) Exaptations are adaptations that have undergone a major zone, as well as dark ecosystems illuminated by biolumines- change in function. By recruiting genes from sources cence [1, 2]. The selective advantages of exploiting this information have resulted in a great diversity of photoreceptive originally unrelated to vision, exaptation has allowed for systems (Fig. 1). Eyes (or eyespots) in animals and some protists sudden and critical photosensory innovations, such as are extraordinarily complex, and how this complexity evolved lenses, photopigments, and photoreceptors. Here we has been a longstanding question [3]. It is clear that visual review new or neglected findings, with an emphasis on systems have become superbly suited to their tasks through the unicellular eukaryotes (protists), to illustrate how exapta- gradual refinement of pre-existing features such as photo- receptors, photopigments, and lenses. But how did these tion has shaped photoreception across the tree of life. features acquire photosensory roles in the first place? Protist phylogeny attests to multiple origins of photore- Gould and Vrba coined the term “exaptation” to describe ception, as well as the extreme creativity of evolution. By traits that became used for different functions than those for appropriating genes and even entire organelles from which they had originally evolved [4]. This concept is useful foreign organisms via lateral gene transfer and endo- to explain the evolution of some important features. For symbiosis, protists have cobbled photoreceptors and instance, the feathers of Archaeopteryx were originally adapted for warmth, but through exaptation, they became eyespots from a diverse set of ingredients.
    [Show full text]
  • Shapiro JA Interface Focus 2017
    Manuscript ID RSFS-2016-0115 revised version 1 Biological Action in RW Genome Evolution Biological Action in Read-Write Genome Evolution James A. Shapiro Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology University of Chicago GCISW123B, 979 E. 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 Interface Focus 2017 7 20160115; DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0115. Published 18 August 2017 http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/7/5/20160115 Abstract: Many of the most important evolutionary variations that generated phenotypic adaptations and originated novel taxa resulted from complex cellular activities affecting genome content and expression. These activities included (i) the symbiogenetic cell merger that produced the mitochondrion-bearing ancestor of all extant eukaryotes, (ii) symbiogenetic cell mergers that produced chloroplast-bearing ancestors of photosynthetic eukaryotes, and (iii) interspecific hybridizations and genome doublings that generated new species and adaptive radiations of higher plants and animals. Adaptive variations also involved horizontal DNA transfers and natural genetic engineering by mobile DNA elements to rewire regulatory networks, such as those essential to viviparous reproduction in mammals. In the most highly evolved multicellular organisms, biological complexity scales with “non-coding” DNA content rather than with protein-coding capacity in the genome. Coincidentally, “non- coding” RNAs rich in repetitive mobile DNA sequences function as key regulators of complex adaptive phenotypes, such as stem cell pluripotency. The intersections of cell fusion activities, horizontal DNA transfers and natural genetic engineering of Read- Write genomes provide a rich molecular and biological foundation for understanding how ecological disruptions can stimulate productive, often abrupt, evolutionary transformations. Keywords: symbiogenesis, hybrid speciation, horizontal DNA transfer, mobile DNA, network rewiring, non-coding RNA regulation Manuscript ID RSFS-2016-0115 revised version 2 Biological Action in RW Genome Evolution 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocelloids Are Built from Different Endosymbiotically Acquired Components
    Eye-like ocelloids are built from different endosymbiotically acquired components Item Type Article Authors Gavelis, Gregory S.; Hayakawa, Shiho; White, Richard A.; Gojobori, Takashi; Suttle, Curtis A.; Keeling, Patrick J.; Leander, Brian S. Citation Gavelis, G. S., Hayakawa, S., White III, R. A., Gojobori, T., Suttle, C. A., Keeling, P. J., & Leander, B. S. (2015). Eye-like ocelloids are built from different endosymbiotically acquired components. Nature, 523(7559), 204–207. doi:10.1038/nature14593 DOI 10.1038/nature14593 Publisher Springer Nature Journal Nature Download date 02/10/2021 02:47:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10754/566109 1 Eyelike “ocelloids” are built from different endosymbiotically acquired components as 2 revealed by single-organelle genomics. 3 4 Gregory S. Gavelis1,2, Shiho Hayakawa1,2,3, Richard A. White III4, Takashi Gojobori3,5, Curtis A. 5 Suttle4,6, Patrick J. Keeling2, Brian S. Leander1,2 6 7 1 Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Canada 8 2 Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Canada 9 3 DNA Databank of Japan, National Institute of Genetics, Japan 10 4 Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Canada 11 5 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia 12 6 Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, Canada 13 14 Multicellularity is often considered a prerequisite for morphological complexity, as 15 seen in the camera-type eyes found in several groups of animals. A notable exception exists in 16 single-celled eukaryotes called warnowiid dinoflagellates, which have an eyelike “ocelloid” 17 consisting of subcellular analogs to a cornea, lens, iris, and retina1,8,9.
    [Show full text]
  • By Susan Milius
    FEATURE Strange VISIONS The study of animal sight takes a turn toward the bizarre By Susan Milius t sounds like a riddling trick: How can an animal with no says. In all this diversity, who’s to say an A lab image of a juve- eyes still see? But it’s a serious scientific question — the urchin can’t be its own spiny eyeball? nile purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus trickiest kind of riddle. The idea has been challenging to test, purpuratus) — without Sea urchins don’t have anything that people recognize as with brainstorms bumping against frus- obvious eyes — shows I an abundance of light- an eye, says Sönke Johnsen of Duke University. Urchin bodies trations. Years of research delved into detecting proteins, are mobile pincushions in purples and pinks to browns and parts of the idea, and then a burst of dis- such as c-opsins (red). blacks, bristling with a mix of spiky spines and soft, stretchy covery about genes for opsins, the main tube feet. light-catching molecules in animal vision, changed the rules. Yet at times urchins act as if they “see” large-enough some- Through it all, urchins continue to be maddening wonders. things in their world, even if the how and what of their visual systems have been hard to pin down. “Maddening,” Johnsen Eye icon says. “They almost always have what looks like purposeful The eye has held a special place in biology since Victorian behavior, but you can’t quite put your finger on it because eyeballs caught sight of, and possibly squinted skeptically at, there’s something so alien about them.” Chapter VI in On the Origin of Species.
    [Show full text]
  • Science Journals
    SCIENCE ADVANCES | RESEARCH ARTICLE CELL BIOLOGY 2017 © The Authors, some rights reserved; Microbial arms race: Ballistic “nematocysts” exclusive licensee American Association in dinoflagellates represent a new extreme in for the Advancement of Science. Distributed organelle complexity under a Creative Commons Attribution 1,2 † 3,4 5 6 NonCommercial Gregory S. Gavelis, * Kevin C. Wakeman, Urban Tillmann, Christina Ripken, License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). Satoshi Mitarai,6 Maria Herranz,1 Suat Özbek,7 Thomas Holstein,7 Patrick J. Keeling,1 Brian S. Leander1,2 We examine the origin of harpoon-like secretory organelles (nematocysts) in dinoflagellate protists. These ballistic organelles have been hypothesized to be homologous to similarly complex structures in animals (cnidarians); but we show, using structural, functional, and phylogenomic data, that nematocysts evolved independently in both lineages. We also recorded the first high-resolution videos of nematocyst discharge in dinoflagellates. Unexpectedly, our data suggest that different types of dinoflagellate nematocysts use two fundamentally different types of ballistic mechanisms: one type relies on a single pressurized capsule for propulsion, whereas the other type launches 11 to 15 projectiles from an arrangement similar to a Gatling gun. Despite their radical structural differences, these nematocysts share a single origin within dinoflagellates and both potentially use a contraction-based mechanism to generate ballistic force. The diversity of traits in dinoflagellate nematocysts demonstrates a stepwise route by which simple secretory structures diversified to yield elaborate subcellular weaponry. INTRODUCTION in the phylum Cnidaria (7, 8), which is among the earliest diverging Planktonic microbes are often viewed as passive food items for larger life- predatory animal phyla.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity and Phylogeny of Gymnodiniales (Dinophyceae) from the NW Mediterranean Sea Revealed by a Morphological and Molecular Approach
    Diversity and phylogeny of Gymnodiniales (Dinophyceae) from the NW Mediterranean Sea revealed by a morphological and molecular approach Albert Reñé *, Jordi Camp, Esther Garcés Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC) Pg. Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49 08003 Barcelona (Spain) * Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 230 9500; fax: +34 93 230 9555. E-mail address: [email protected] Abstract The diversity and phylogeny of dinoflagellates belonging to the Gymnodiniales were studied during a 3-year period at several coastal stations along the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean) by combining analyses of their morphological features with rDNA sequencing. This approach resulted in the detection of 59 different morphospecies, 13 of which were observed for the first time in the Mediterranean Sea. Fifteen of the detected species were HAB producers; four represented novel detections on the Catalan coast and two in the Mediterranean Sea. Partial rDNA sequences were obtained for 50 different morphospecies, including novel LSU rDNA sequences for 27 species, highlighting the current scarcity of molecular information for this group of dinoflagellates. The combination of morphology and genetics allowed the first determinations of the phylogenetic position of several genera, i.e., Torodinium and many Gyrodinium and Warnowiacean species. The results also suggested that among the specimens belonging to the genera Gymnodinium, Apicoporus, and Cochlodinium were those representing as yet undescribed species. Furthermore, the phylogenetic data suggested taxonomic incongruences for some species, i.e., Gyrodinium undulans and Gymnodinium agaricoides. Although a species complex related to G. spirale was detected, the partial LSU rDNA sequences lacked sufficient resolution to discriminate between various other Gyrodinium morphospecies.
    [Show full text]