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LATITUDINAL PATTERNS OF CILIATE RDNA DIVERSITY IN THE SURFACE PLANKTON OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN
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LATITUDINAL PATTERNS OF CILIATE RDNA DIVERSITY IN THE SURFACE PLANKTON OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN

Marthe Adrienne Covell
University of West Florida
Master of Science (MS), University of West Florida
2016

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Abstract

Unicellular organisms known as ciliates (Phylum: Ciliophora) are a widespread and ecologically important group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Despite their critical roles in the microbial and planktonic food webs, their global distribution patterns remain poorly understood. It is unclear whether ciliates follow the same latitudinal gradient patterns that have been identified for macroscopic organisms, which generally show an increase in biodiversity and species richness approaching the equator. Some microbial ecologists believe that ciliates do not have the same types of dispersal limitations as larger organisms and therefore will have ubiquitous distribution, while others argue that there is evidence of endemic species in specialized oceanic environments In this study, ciliate rDNA diversity was examined along a 15,400 km transect of the Pacific Ocean in order to identify distributional patterns. A combination of molecular techniques including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis, molecular cloning, and DNA sequencing were used to document patterns of biodiversity. Statistical analyses show that there is no significant relationship between latitude and ciliate distribution. This study provides a broad understanding of the distribution patterns of marine ciliates, as well as adds to our understanding of the global biogeography of microscopic organisms.
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