Dataset Information

Bromeliothrix metopoides, a boom and bust ciliate (Ciliophora, Colpodea) from tank bromeliads.

ABSTRACT: We investigated the recently described colpodid ciliate Bromeliothrix metopoides in a series of laboratory experiments to reveal the environmental factors that constrain this species to its peculiar habitat, i.e. the tanks of bromeliads. Our results demonstrated that the various life stages of this ciliate (bacterivorous theronts and microstome trophonts, flagellate-feeding macrostomes) have specific demands in terms of food quality and quantity. Bromeliothrix required a high food threshold (>1.4 mg CL(-1)) in order to thrive. Food quality also affected resting cyst formation of B. metopoides when the experimental containers dried out. Its maximum growth rates (?max=4.71 d(-1), i.e., 6.8 doublings d(-1)) belong to the highest ones recorded thus far for free-living ciliates. The pH niche of B. metopoides was relatively wide (pH ?4 to >9) under optimal food conditions. However, its high sensitivity to unfavourable environmental conditions let the population collapse within several hours. We conclude that B. metopoides is a boom and bust ciliate that is specifically adapted to its peculiar habitat but virtually unviable in other environments.

SUBMITTER: Weisse T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3688101 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Bromeliothrix metopoides, a boom and bust ciliate (Ciliophora, Colpodea) from tank bromeliads.

Weisse Thomas T Scheffel Ulrike U Stadler Peter P Foissner Wilhelm W

European journal of protistology 20130327 3

We investigated the recently described colpodid ciliate Bromeliothrix metopoides in a series of laboratory experiments to reveal the environmental factors that constrain this species to its peculiar habitat, i.e. the tanks of bromeliads. Our results demonstrated that the various life stages of this ciliate (bacterivorous theronts and microstome trophonts, flagellate-feeding macrostomes) have specific demands in terms of food quality and quantity. Bromeliothrix required a high food threshold (>1. ...[more]

PMID: 23541138

Similar Datasets

Project description:Using standard methods, we studied the morphology and 18S rDNA sequence of some peritrich ciliates from tank bromeliads of Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Ecuador. The new genus Orborhabdostyla differs from Rhabdostyla by the discoidal macronucleus. Two species from the literature and a new species from Ecuadoran tank bromeliads are combined with the new genus: O. previpes (Claparède and Lachmann, 1857) nov. comb., O. kahli (Nenninger, 1948) nov. comb., and O. bromelicola nov. spec. Orborhabdostyla bromelicola is a slender species with stalk-like narrowed posterior half and operculariid/epistylidid oral apparatus. An epistylidid relationship is also suggested by the gene sequence. Vorticella gracilis, described by Dujardin (1841) from French freshwater, belongs to the V. convallaria complex but differs by the yellowish colour and the number of silverlines. The classification as a distinct species is supported by the 18S rDNA, which differs nearly 10% from that of V. convallaria s. str. Based on the new data, especially the very stable yellowish colour, we neotypify V. gracilis with the Austrian population studied by Foissner (1979). Vorticella gracilis forms a strongly supported phyloclade together with V. campanula, V. fusca and V. convallaria, while Vorticellides astyliformis and Vorticella microstoma branch in a separate, fully-supported clade that includes Astylozoon and Opisthonecta. The new genus Vorticellides comprises five small (usually < 60 ?m), barrel-shaped species with two epistomial membranes: V. aquadulcis (Stokes, 1887) nov. comb., V. astyliformis (Foissner, 1981) nov. comb., V. platysoma (Stokes, 1887) nov. comb., V. infusionum (Dujardin, 1841) nov. comb., and V. (Spinivorticellides) echini (King, 1931) nov. comb. Two of these species are redescribed in the present study: V. astyliformis and V. aquadulcis, which is neotypified with a Costa Rican population. Pseudovorticella bromelicola nov. spec. differs from the congeners by the location of the two contractile vacuoles and the number of silverlines.

Project description:IntroductionSeptoria nodorum blotch (SNB) is a complex fungal disease of wheat caused by the Dothideomycete fungal pathogen Parastagonospora nodorum. The fungus infects through the use of necrotrophic effectors (NEs) that cause necrosis on hosts carrying matching dominant susceptibility genes. The Western Australia (WA) wheatbelt is a SNB "hot spot" and experiences significant under favorable conditions. Consequently, SNB has been a major target for breeders in WA for many years.Materials and methodsIn this study, we assembled a panel of 155 WA P. nodorum isolates collected over a 44-year period and compared them to 23 isolates from France and the USA using 28 SSR loci.ResultsThe WA P. nodorum population was clustered into five groups with contrasting properties. 80% of the studied isolates were assigned to two core groups found throughout the collection location and time. The other three non-core groups that encompassed transient and emergent populations were found in restricted locations and time. Changes in group genotypes occurred during periods that coincided with the mass adoption of a single or a small group of widely planted wheat cultivars. When introduced, these cultivars had high scores for SNB resistance. However, the field resistance of these new cultivars often declined over subsequent seasons prompting their replacement with new, more resistant varieties. Pathogenicity assays showed that newly emerged isolates non-core are more pathogenic than old isolates. It is likely that the non-core groups were repeatedly selected for increased virulence on the contemporary popular cultivars.DiscussionThe low level of genetic diversity within the non-core groups, difference in virulence, low abundance, and restriction to limited locations suggest that these populations more vulnerable to a population crash when the cultivar was replaced by one that was genetically different and more resistant. We characterize the observed pattern as a low-amplitude boom-and-bust cycle in contrast with the classical high amplitude boom-and-bust cycles seen for biotrophic pathogens where the contrast between resistance and susceptibility is typically much greater. Implications of the results are discussed relating to breeding strategies for more sustainable SNB resistance and more generally for pathogens with NEs.

Dataset Information

Bromeliothrix metopoides, a boom and bust ciliate (Ciliophora, Colpodea) from tank bromeliads.

Publications

Bromeliothrix metopoides, a boom and bust ciliate (Ciliophora, Colpodea) from tank bromeliads.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets