Publication Date:
2019-12-19
Description:
1. Reliable determination of organisms is a prerequisite to explore their spatial
and temporal occurrence and to study their evolution, ecology, and dispersal. In
Europe, Bavaria (Germany) provides an excellent study system for research on the
origin and diversification of freshwater organisms including dinophytes, due to
the presence of extensive lake districts and ice age river valleys. Bavarian freshwater
environments are ecologically diverse and range from deep nutrient‐poor
mountain lakes to shallow nutrient‐rich lakes and ponds.
2. We obtained amplicon sequence data (V4 region of small subunit‐rRNA, c. 410 bp
long) from environmental samples collected at 11 sites in Upper Bavaria. We
found 186 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) associated with Dinophyceae that
were further classified by means of a phylogenetic placement approach.
3. The maximum likelihood tree inferred from a well‐curated reference alignment comprised
a systematically representative set of 251 dinophytes, covering the currently
known molecular diversity and OTUs linked to type material if possible. Environmental
OTUs were scattered across the reference tree, but accumulated mostly in freshwater
lineages, with 79% of OTUs placed in either Apocalathium, Ceratium, or Peridinium,
the most frequently encountered taxa in Bavaria based on morphology.
4. Twenty‐one Bavarian OTUs showed identical sequences to already known and
vouchered accessions, two of which are linked to type material, namely Palatinus
apiculatus and Theleodinium calcisporum. Particularly within Peridiniaceae, delimitation
of Peridinium species was based on the intraspecific sequence variation.
5. Our approach indicates that high‐throughput sequencing of environmental samples
is effective for reliable determination of dinophyte species in Bavarian lakes.
We further discuss the importance of well‐curated reference databases that remain
to be developed in the future.
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
Format:
application/pdf
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