Eight species of hypotrichous ciliates of the genera Oxytricha and Stylonychia were compared with respect to the electrophoretic pattern of enzyme proteins coded by nineteen loci. Based on the allele frequencies Nei's coefficients of the mean genetic identy (I˘) and the mean genetic distance (I˘) were calculated. The enzyme pattern could be used in all cases for reliable species determination regardless of the geographic origin of the strains even when coming from different continents (intraspecific < 0.40).

Several strains of the two sibling species Stylonychia mytilus and S. lemnae were investigated for intraspecific variation of the allozymes. Variability is higher in S. lemnae than in S. mytilus. The difference is explained by the fact that S. mytilus undergoes – at least under culture conditions – more often intraclonal conjugation than S. lemnae which results probably in homozygous strains. if this holds true for populations in nature it would be a further example of different breeding strategies of closely related species (“inbreeder–outbreeder”) like those found e. g. in the Paramecium aurelia complex.

The D∼-values of all species compared were used for the construction of a dendrogram with the UPGMA-method of Sneath and Sokal. The dendrogram reveals no clustering into Oxytricha and Stylonychia species. This result is consistent with recent morphological investigations. Therefore redefinition of the two genera is suggested.

How far the phenetic dendrogram correlates with the phylogenetic relationship is discussed.

Zusammenfassung

Vergleichende Untersuchung zur Allozym–Variation von acht Arten hypotricher Ciliaten (Polyhymenophora, Ciliophora)

Die Variabilität von 19 Enzymgenen wurde bei acht Arten der Gattungen Stylonychia und Oxytricha untersucht. Mit Hilfe der Allelfrequenzen wurden Nei's Koeffizienten der mittleren genetischen Identität (I˘) und der mittleren genetischen Distanz (D˘) berechnet.

Verschiedene Stämme der untersuchten Arten konnten unabhängig von ihrer geographischen Herkunft, sogar von verschiedenen Kontinenten, mit Hilfe des Allozymmusters eindeutig einer Art zugeordnet werden (D˘<0.40).

Von den beiden Geschwisterarten Stylonychia mytilus und Stylonychia lemnae wurden mehrere Stämme untersucht. Stylonychia lemnae zeigt dabei eine höhere innerartliche Variabilität als Stylonychia mytilus. Der Unterschied wird dadurch erklärt, daßStylonychia mytilus– zumindest unter Kulturbedingungen –öfter intraklonal konjugiert als Stylonychia lemnae, wodurch wahrscheinlich homozygote Stämme entstehen. Falls dies für Populationen in der Natur ebenfalls zutrifft, wäre es ein weiteres Beispiel für verschiedene Fortpflanzungsstrategien bei nahe verwandten Ciliaten (“inbreeder – outbreeder”) wie z. B. im Artenkomplex von Paramecium aurelia.

Die D˘-Werte aller verglichenen Arten wurden zur Konstruktion eines phenetischen Dendrogrammes verwendet. Dabei ergab sich keine Gruppierung in Stylonychia- und Oxytricha-Arten. Dieses Ergebnis deckt sich mit neueren morphologischen Untersuchungen, und eine Neudefinierung der beiden Gattungen ist angezeigt.

Inwiefern das Dendrogramm die phylogenetischen Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen widerspiegelt, wird diskutiert.

References

Adams, J., Allen, S. L., 1975: Genetic polymorphism and differentiation in Paramecium. In: Isoenzymes IV: Genetics and Evolution. Ed. by C. L. Markert. New York : Academic Press. pp. 867–882.
Google Scholar
Allen, S. L., Adams, J., Rushford, C. L., 1983: Interspecies relationships in the Paramecium aurelia complex: Acid phosphatase variation. J. Protozool. 30, 143–147.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb01048.x
CAS Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ammermann D., Schlegel, M., 1983: Characterization of two sibling species of the genus Stylonychia (Ciliata, Hypotricha): S. mytilus Ehrenberg 1838 and S. lemnae n. sp. I. Morphology and reproductive behavior. J. Protozool. 30, 290–294.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb02918.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Avise, J. C., Patton, J. C., Aquadro, C. F., 1980: Evolutionary genetics of birds. I. Relationships among north american Thrushes and allies. The Auk 97, 135–147.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ax, P., 1984: Das Phylogenetische System. Stuttgart : G. Fischer.
Google Scholar
Ayala, F. J., Tracey, M. L., Hedgecock, D., Richmond, C. R., 1974: Genetic differentiation during the speciation process in Drosophila. Evolution 28, 576–592.
10.2307/2407283
PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Ayala, F. J., 1975: Genetic differentiation during the speciation process. Evolutionary Biology, Vol. 8. Ed. by T. Doszhansky, M. Hecht, W. C. Steere. New York : Plenum Press.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Borden, D., Whitt, G. S., Nanney, D. L., 1973: Electrophoretic characterization of classical Tetrahymena pyriformis strains. J. Protozool. 20, 693–700.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1973.tb03601.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Borden, D., Miller, E. T., Whitt, G. S., Nanney, D. L., 1977: Electrophoretic analysis of evolutionary relationships in Tetrahymena. Evolution 31, 91–102.
10.1111/j.1558-5646.1977.tb00986.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Borror, A. C., 1972: Revision of the order Hypotrichida (Ciliophora, Protozoa). J. Protozool. 19, 1–23.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1972.tb03407.x
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Borror, A. C., 1979: Redefinition of the Urostylidae (Ciliophora, Hypotrichida) on the basis of morphogenetic characters. J. Protozool. 26, 544–550.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1979.tb04192.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Case, S. M., 1976: Ph. D. Thesis, Univ. of California. Berkeley .
Google Scholar
Corliss, J. O., 1979: The ciliated protozoa, characterization, classification and guide to the literature. Oxford : Pergamon Press.
Google Scholar
Curds, C. R., 1975: A guide to the species of the genus Euplotes (Hypotrichida, Ciliata). Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat.-Hist.) Zool. 28, 3–61.
Google Scholar
Dickerson, R. E., Geis, I., 1983: Hemoglobin: Structure, function, evolution and pathology. Menlo Park : Benjamin/Cummings Publ. Comp.
Google Scholar
Fitch, W. M., Langley, C. H., 1976: Protein evolution and the molecular clock. Federation Proc. 35, 2092–2097.
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Foissner, W., 1982: Ecology and taxonomy of the Hypotrichida (Protozoa: Ciliophora) of some austrian soils. Arch. Protistenk. 126, 19–143.
10.1016/S0003-9365(82)80065-1
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Goodman, M., 1976: Protein sequences in phylogeny. In: Molecular evolution. Ed. by F. J. Ayala. Massachusetts : Sinauer Ass. pp. 141–159.
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Goodman, M., Braunitzer, G., Stangl, A., Schrank, B., 1983; Evidence on human origins from hemoglobins of african apes. Nature 303, 546–548.
10.1038/303546a0
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Hemberger, H., 1982: Revision der Ordnung Hypotrichida Stein (Ciliophora, Protozoa) anhand von Protargolpräparaten und Morphogenesestadien. Diss. Univ. Bonn.
Google Scholar
Hennig, W., 1966: Phylogenetic systematics. Urbana : Univ. Illinois Press.
PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Hennig, W., 1982: Phylogenetische Systematik. Berlin , Hamburg : Paul Parey.
Google Scholar
Holmquist, R., Goodman, M., Conroy, T., Czelusniak, J., 1983: The spatial distribution of fixed mutations within genes coding for proteins. J. Mol. Evol. 19, 437–448.
10.1007/BF02102319
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Jankowsky, A. W., 1979: Revision of the order Hypotrichida Stein 1859 (Protozoa, Ciliophora). Acad. Sci. USSR, Proc. Zool. Inst. 86, 48–85.
Google Scholar
Kimura, M., 1983: The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press.
10.1017/CBO9780511623486
Google Scholar
King, J. L., Jukes, T. H., 1969: Non-darwinian evolution. Science 164, 788–798.
10.1126/science.164.3881.788
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Lokki, J., Saura, A., 1980: Genetic polymorphism and evolution in parthenogenetic animals. Hereditas, 92, 275–282.
10.1111/j.1601-5223.1980.tb01708.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Nanney, D. L., McCoy, J. W., 1976: Characterization of the species of the Tetrahymena pyriformis complex. Trans. Amer. Micros. Soc. 95, 664–682.
10.2307/3225391
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Patton, J. C., Baker, R. J., Avise, J. C., 1981: Phenetic and cladistic analysis of biochemical evolution in peromyscine rodents. In: Mammalian population genetics. Ed. by M. H. Smith, J. Joule. Athens : Univ. Georgia Press. pp. 288–308.
Google Scholar
Pinsker, W., Buruga, J., 1982: Comparative study of allozyme variation in six species of the Drosophila obscura-group. Z. zool. Syst. Evolut.-forsch. 20, 53–63.
10.1111/j.1439-0469.1983.tb00549.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Prager, E. M., Wilson, A. C., 1976: Congruency of phylogenies derived from different proteins. J. Mol. Evol. 9, 45–47.
10.1007/BF01796122
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Prager, E. M., Wilson, A. C., 1978: Construction of phylogenetic trees for proteins and nucleic acids: Empirical evaluation of alternative matrix methods. J. Mol. Evol. 11, 129–142.
10.1007/BF01733889
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Schlegel, M., 1983: Morphologische und enzymelektrophoretische Untersuchungen zur Taxonomie und Verwandtschaft hypotricher Ciliaten. Diss. Univ. Tübingen.
Google Scholar
Sibley, C. G., Ahlquist, G. E., 1983: Phylogeny and classification of birds based on the data of DNA-DNA hybridization. Current Ornithology, Vol, 1. Ed. by R. F. Johanton. New York : Plenum Publ. pp. 245–291.
10.1007/978-1-4615-6781-3_9
Google Scholar
Sites, J. W. JR., Bickham, J. W., Pytel, B. A., Greenbaum, J. F., Bates, B. A., 1984: Biochemical characters and the reconstruction of turtle phylogenies: Relationships among Batagurine genera. Syst. Zool. 33 (2), 137–158.
10.2307/2413015
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Sneath, P. H. A., Sokal, R. R., 1973: Numerical taxonomy. San Francisco : Freeman.
CAS Google Scholar
Sonneborn, T. M., 1957: Breeding systems, reproductive methods and species problems in protozoa. In: The species problem. Ed. by E. Mayr. Washington D. C. : Arno Press. pp. 155–324.
Google Scholar
Sonneborn, T. M., 1975: The Paramecium aurelia complex of fourteen sibling species. Trans. Amer. Micros. Soc. 94, 155–178.
10.2307/3224977
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Steinbrück, G., Schlegel, M., 1983: Characterization of two sibling species of the genus Stylonychia (Ciliata, Hypotricha): S. mytilus Ehrenberg, 1838 and S. lemnae n. sp. II. Biochemical characterization. J. Protozool. 30 (2), 294–300.
10.1111/j.1550-7408.1983.tb02919.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Stiller, J., 1974: Jarolabascskas csillosok – Hypotricha. Fauna Hung. 115, 1–191.
Google Scholar
Tait, A., 1970: Enzyme variation between syngens in Paramecium aurelia. Biochem. Genet. 4, 461–470.
10.1007/BF00486596
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Tait, A., 1978: Species identification in Protozoa: Glucosephosphate isomerase in the Paramecium aurelia group. Biochem. Genet. 16, 945–955.
10.1007/BF00483746
CAS PubMed Web of Science® Google Scholar
Tomiuk, J., Wöhrmann, K., 1983: Enzyme polymorphism and taxonomy of aphid species. Z. zool. Syst. Evolut. -forsch. 21, 266–274.
10.1111/j.1439-0469.1983.tb00295.x
Web of Science® Google Scholar
Tuffrau, M., 1979: Une nouvelle famille d'hypotriches, Kahliellidae, n fam., et ses conséquences dans la répartition du Stichotrichina. Trans. Amer. Micros. Soc. 98, 521–528.
10.2307/3225902
Web of Science® Google Scholar

Citing Literature

All articles

Comparative study of allozyme variation in eight species of hypotrichous ciliates (Polyhymenophora, Ciliophora)¹

Abstract

Zusammenfassung

References

Citing Literature

References

Information

About Wiley Online Library

Help & Support

Opportunities

Connect with Wiley

Comparative study of allozyme variation in eight species of hypotrichous ciliates (Polyhymenophora, Ciliophora)1

Abstract

Zusammenfassung

References

Citing Literature

References

Related

Information

Comparative study of allozyme variation in eight species of hypotrichous ciliates (Polyhymenophora, Ciliophora)¹