Testate amoebae (Arcellinida, Amoebozoa) community diversity in New England bogs and fens assessed through lineage-specific amplicon sequencing

Testate amoebae (order Arcellinida) are abundant in freshwater ecosystems, including low pH bogs and fens. Within these environments, Arcellinida are considered top predators in microbial food webs and their tests are useful bioindicators of paleoclimatic changes and anthropogenic pollutants. Accura...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of protistology 2024-02, Vol.92, p.126049-126049, Article 126049
Main Authors: Dufour, Olivia K., Hoffman, Evie, Sleith, Robin S., Katz, Laura A., Weiner, Agnes K.M., Sehein, Taylor R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amoeba - genetics
Amoebozoa
Amplicon sequencing
Arcellinida
Ecosystem
Lobosea
Microbial community composition
New England
Phylogeny
Protists
Seasonality
Wetlands
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Summary:Testate amoebae (order Arcellinida) are abundant in freshwater ecosystems, including low pH bogs and fens. Within these environments, Arcellinida are considered top predators in microbial food webs and their tests are useful bioindicators of paleoclimatic changes and anthropogenic pollutants. Accurate species identifications and characterizations of diversity are important for studies of paleoclimate, microbial ecology, and environmental change; however, morphological species definitions mask cryptic diversity, which is a common phenomenon among microbial eukaryotes. Lineage-specific primers recently designed to target Arcellinida for amplicon sequencing successfully captured a poorly-described yet diverse fraction of the microbial eukaryotic community. Here, we leveraged the application of these newly-designed primers to survey the diversity of Arcellinida in four low-pH New England bogs and fens, investigating variation among bogs (2018) and then across seasons and habitats within two bogs (2019). Three OTUs represented 66% of Arcellinida reads obtained across all habitats surveyed. 103 additional OTUs were present in lower abundance with some OTUs detected in only one sampling location, suggesting habitat specificity. By establishing a baseline for Arcellinida diversity, we provide a foundation to monitor key taxa in habitats that are predicted to change with increasing anthropogenic pressure and rapid climate change.
ISSN:0932-4739
1618-0429
DOI:10.1016/j.ejop.2023.126049