Phylogeny of the Rumen Ciliates Entodinium, Epidinium and Polyplastron (Litostomatea: Entodiniomorphida) Inferred from Small Subunit Ribosomal RNA Sequences

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Abstract
Three complete 18S ribosomal RNA gene sequences from the rumen ciliates, Entodinium coudatum (1,639 bp), Epidinium caudarum (1,638 bp), and Polyplastron multivesiculatum (1,640 bp) were determined and confrimed in the opposite direction. Trees produced using maximum parsimony and distance-matrix methods (lest squares and neighbour-joining). with strong bootstrap support, depict the rumen ciliates as a monophyletic group, Entodinium caudatum is the earliest branching rumen ciliate. However, Entodiniwn simplex does not pair with En. caudatum, but rather with Polyplastron multivesiculatum. Signature sequences for these rumen ciliates reveal that the published SSrRNA gene sequence from En. simplex is in fact a Polyoplastron species. The free-living haptorian ciliates, Loxophyllum, Homalozoon and Spathidium (Subclass Hoptoria), are monophyletic and are the sister group to the rumen cilates. The litostomes (class Litostomatea), consisting of the haptorians and the rumen ciliates, are also a monophyletic group.

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