TY - JOUR

T1 - Paramecium diversity and a new member of the Paramecium aurelia species complex described from Mexico

AU - Potekhin, Alexey

AU - Mayen-Estrada, Rosaura

N1 - Potekhin, A.; Mayén-Estrada, R. Paramecium Diversity and a New Member of the Paramecium aurelia Species Complex Described from Mexico. Diversity 2020, 12, 197.

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - Paramecium (Ciliophora) is an ideal model organism to study the biogeography of protists. However, many regions of the world, such as Central America, are still neglected in understanding Paramecium diversity. We combined morphological and molecular approaches to identify paramecia isolated from more than 130 samples collected from different waterbodies in several states of Mexico. We found representatives of six Paramecium morphospecies, including the rare species Paramecium jenningsi, and Paramecium putrinum, which is the first report of this species in tropical regions. We also retrieved five species of the Paramecium aurelia complex, and describe one new member of the complex, Paramecium quindecaurelia n. sp., which appears to be a sister species of Paramecium biaurelia. We discuss criteria currently applied for differentiating between sibling species in Paramecium. Additionally, we detected diverse bacterial symbionts in some of the collected ciliates.

AB - Paramecium (Ciliophora) is an ideal model organism to study the biogeography of protists. However, many regions of the world, such as Central America, are still neglected in understanding Paramecium diversity. We combined morphological and molecular approaches to identify paramecia isolated from more than 130 samples collected from different waterbodies in several states of Mexico. We found representatives of six Paramecium morphospecies, including the rare species Paramecium jenningsi, and Paramecium putrinum, which is the first report of this species in tropical regions. We also retrieved five species of the Paramecium aurelia complex, and describe one new member of the complex, Paramecium quindecaurelia n. sp., which appears to be a sister species of Paramecium biaurelia. We discuss criteria currently applied for differentiating between sibling species in Paramecium. Additionally, we detected diverse bacterial symbionts in some of the collected ciliates.

KW - biogeography

KW - ciliates

KW - Paramecium quindecaurelia

KW - cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI )

KW - sibling species

KW - species concept in protists

KW - Bacterial symbionts

KW - Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I gene

KW - Species concept in protists

KW - Sibling species

KW - Biogeography

KW - Ciliates

UR - https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/12/5/197

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85085897738&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/D12050197

DO - 10.3390/D12050197

M3 - Article

VL - 12

JO - Diversity

JF - Diversity

SN - 1424-2818

IS - 5

M1 - 197

ER -