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A substantial nitrate pool is stored within living cells in various benthic marine environments. The fate of this bioavailable nitrogen differs according to the organisms managing the intracellular nitrate (ICN). While some light has been shed on the nitrate carried by diatoms and foraminiferans, no study has so far followed the nitrate kept by gromiids. Gromiids are large protists and their ICN concentration can exceed 1000x the ambient nitrate concentration. In the present study we investigated gromiids from diverse habitats and showed that they contained nitrate at concentrations ranging from 1 to 370 mM. We used 15N tracer techniques to investigate the source of this ICN, and found that it originated both from active nitrate uptake from the environment and from intracellular production, most likely through bacterial nitrification. Microsensor measurements showed that part of the ICN was denitrified to N2 when gromiids were exposed to anoxia. Denitrification seemed to be mediated by endobiotic bacteria because antibiotics inhibited denitrification activity. The active uptake of nitrate suggests that ICN plays a role in gromiid physiology and is not merely a consequence of the gromiid hosting a diverse bacterial community. Measurements of aerobic respiration rates and modeling of oxygen consumption by individual gromiid cells suggested that gromiids may occasionally turn anoxic by their own respiration activity and thus need strategies for coping with this self-inflicted anoxia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over a century testate amoebae have been a favoured group of interest for protistologists, however there is still an endless amount of unanswered questions. The genus Plagiophrys , Claparède and Lachmann 1859, is still one of the unresolved mysteries as it comprises species with high morphological diversity of which no molecular data are available. To shed light on the phylogeny and taxonomy of Plagiophrys we (a) cultured four isolates of three Plagiophrys morphospecies and provided morphological observations (b) obtained three new SSU RNA gene sequences and conducted phylogenetic analyses of the Thecofilosea and (c) did intensive literature research, showing that Plagiophrys is polyphyletic. We partially untangle this polyphyly by combining several of its species with the genus Rhizaspis , Skuja 1948. Furthermore, we establish Sacciforma gen. nov. to accommodate P. sacciformis as it groups within the formerly known Rhizaspididae, which do not comprise our isolates of Rhizaspis (and therefore were renamed Rhogostomidae) since Rhizaspis it groups with maximum support as a sister-group to the Pseudodifflugiidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) is a serious neuropsychiatric sequela emerging in the advanced stages of cirrhosis. The gut microbiota plays an important role in the development of HE. The aim of the study was to analyze the dynamic interplay between microbiota and Blastocystis in cirrhotic patients with or without encephalopathy. Methods: The study was designed as cross-sectional study. A total of 37 patients from the Ankara city, admitted to the University Hospital within a 6-month period prior to enrolment into the study were included in the study. After the regular health checks, clinical histories, clinical examinations, and Psychometric HE Score (PHES) points, patients' MELD and CTP scores were recorded. The fecal microbiota configurations were characterized by targeting hypervariable regions V3 and V4 of the 16S rRNA gene using Illumina MiSeq System. Results: Blastocystis spp. were detected in 21.6% (n = 8) of all cirrhotic patients. When those were analyzed by subgroups, four of them were subtype 2, three were subtype 3 and one was subtype 1. Blastocystis spp. were not found in any of the patients with HE; however, they were detected in 38.1% of the patients without HE. Also the increase in the bacterial diversity was observed along with the absence of Blastocystis. It was suggested that there was an inverse relationship between Blastocystis spp. and advanced stages of HE and the structure and composition of gut microbiota. Conclusion: The absence of Blastocystis spp. is associated with the HE severity and dysbiosis in the gut microbiota. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decomposing cadavers modify the soil environment, but the effect on soil organisms and especially on soil protists is still poorly documented. We conducted a 35-month experiment in a deciduous forest where soil samples were taken under pig cadavers, control plots and fake pigs (bags of similar volume as the pigs). We extracted total soil DNA, amplified the SSU ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene V9 region and sequenced it by Illumina technology and analysed the data for euglyphid testate amoebae (Rhizaria: Euglyphida), a common group of protozoa known to respond to micro-environmental changes. We found 51 euglyphid operational taxonomic units (OTUs), 45 of which did not match any known sequence. Most OTUs decreased in abundance underneath cadavers between days 0 and 309, but some responded positively after a time lag. We sequenced the full-length SSU rRNA gene of two common OTUs that responded positively to cadavers; a phylogenetic analysis showed that they did not belong to any known euglyphid family. This study confirmed the existence of an unknown diversity of euglyphids and that they react to cadavers. Results suggest that metabarcoding of soil euglyphids could be used as a forensic tool to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI) particularly for long-term (>2 months) PMI, for which no reliable tool exists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe the occurrence of basal ('primitive') foraminifera and gromiids (a distinct taxon related to the foraminifera) in different bathyal habitats of the Håkon Mosby Mud Volcano (HMMV, Barents Sea). The foraminifera include two distinct groupings: (1) soft-shelled monothalamous foraminifera ('allogromiids', 'saccamminids' and 'psammosphaerids') and (2) brown organic-walled foraminifera (genera Conicotheca, Nodellum, Placopsilinella and Resigella). Samples were analysed from (1) the 'hot centre' of the volcano where fluid upflow was maximal; (2) smooth and structured muds in a 'warm' area of the centre where fluid upflow was reduced; (3) areas covered by Beggiatoa mats; (4) an area colonised by siboglinid polychaetes ('pogonophores'); and (5) areas of 'normal' seafloor outside the volcano. Together, the studied organisms represented 57.8 % ('normal' seafloor; n = 418), 28.5 % ('warm centre'; n = 122), and 26.4 % ( Beggiatoa mats; n = 5) of all 'live' (stained) foraminifera in three samples (0-1 cm layer) that were sorted for all stained foraminifera. In total, the 17 samples examined yielded 21 'allogromiid' (organic-walled), 25 'saccamminid' (agglutinated) and 5 other morphospecies among the monothalamous foraminifera, as well as 5 'brown-walled' and 5 gromiid morphospecies. Four taxa were identified to species ( Conicotheca nigrans, Resigella moniliforme, R. polaris, Micrometula hyalinosphaera); another seven were assigned to the genera Bathyallogromia, Conqueria, Nodellum, Placopsilinella, Resigella, Tinogullmia and Vanhoeffenella. All others were undescibed at the genus level. Some species, notably 'Saccamminid sp. 5', C. nigrans and Nodellum sp., were distributed in sediment layers down to 5 cm depth, and sausage-shaped gromiids were also present in the deeper layers of some samples. The number of basal foraminiferal and gromiid morphospecies varied considerably from site to site. It was relatively high north of the volcano (42 morphospecies in 4 samples) and in the 'warm centre' (28 morphospecies in 2 samples), somewhat lower southwest of the volcano (at least 13 morphospecies in 2 samples) and in the siboglinid field (14 morphospecies in three samples), and substantially reduced in the bacterial mat area (5 morphospecies in 6 samples). The scarcity of these protists at the bacterial mat sites is probably a consequence of high sulfide concentrations. No stained foraminifera or gromiids were observed at the 'hot centre' site. In general, assemblages from within and around the HMMV resembled those reported from other bathyal sites, notably in the Porcupine Seabight. Saccamminid sp. 5, by far the most common species in our samples, belongs to a 'lamp-like' morphotype that is widely distributed in the oceans. The wall structure, and the presence of what appears to be an internal partition across the base of the neck, is reminiscent of some komokiaceans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a survey of morphospecies of Gromia, a genus of testate protists, from bathyal and abyssal depths in the Weddell Sea and adjacent areas of the Southern Ocean. This material represents the most extensive and diverse available collection of deep-sea gromiids so far recorded. The twelve species, nine of which are undescribed, are recognized on the basis of morphological criteria, including the test size and shape, the appearance and structure of the oral capsule, and the characteristics of the test wall. Most species have a single oral capsule, which is circular in plan view with a conical nipple-like shape in lateral view. One morphospecies has three oral capsules. The appearance and structure of the wall displays great variability among Gromia species, ranging from very delicate and transparent with highly reflective highlights to relatively thick with distinct patterns of ridges covering the surface. More often, however, differences in wall structure are more subtle. Most morphospecies were distributed at bathyal depths along the continental margin, but one was sampled at ~4,800 m, representing the first record of an abyssal gromiid. Concurrent with findings from other regions of the World's oceans, the Weddell Sea gromiids were mostly found in surficial sediments in areas of elevated organic input, suggesting that deep-sea gromiids are likely to play an important role in carbon cycling in bathyal eutrophic regions through the ingestion and degradation of fresh organic matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Allogromiid foraminifera and gromiids constitute an important but poorly known component of the meiobenthos in high-latitude marine settings. Here, we present a first report on the diversity of these protists, together with an account of co-occurring invertebrate taxa, in a sample of sea floor sediment from a water depth of 923 m under the Ross Ice Shelf. Light microscopy of sieved sediment yielded 14 allogromiid foraminifera and three Gromia spp. morphotypes. We also obtained 36 partial small subunit rDNA sequences of allogromiids, including 19 sequences of individual isolates and 17 sequences from environmental DNA samples. Phylogenetic analyses of the obtained sequences identified 18 phylotypes, of which seven were closely related to previously sequenced allogromiids, while 11 represented new lineages. Our results demonstrate that a rich meiofaunal assemblage is present under the Ross Ice Shelf, 12 km from the open ocean. Molecular phylogenetic analyses of these allogromiid foraminifera point to the endemic character of the Ross Ice Shelf assemblage; however, more extensive sampling of the molecular diversity of this group of foraminifera in the Antarctic deep sea is necessary to confirm this conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two species of the poorly known testate rhizopod genus Campascus, C. minutus Penard and C. simcoei n. sp., are described statistically from populations in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario specimens of C. minutus revealed a considerably wider range in test size and shape than has been previously reported. LM micrographs of the test structure in C. minutus are provided for the first time and illustrate a test covered with small, variously shaped, tight-fitting particles of apparently exogenous origin. C. simcoei differs from the seven other previously described species by its bulbous shape with up to five posterior short “horns”. Median test length, width, height and aperture diameter are 103, 57, 54, and 24.5 m, respectively. Its test is covered with variously shaped, flat particles, similar to those found in C. minutus. The continued inclusion of the genus Campascus in the family Cyphoderiidae (a group defined by a test covered with endogenously-produced circular, reniform or elliptical scales) is untenable. It is proposed here to transfer the genus to the family Psammonobiotidae Gol. emend Meisterfeld, where it shares test characteristics with genera such as Alepiella, Edaphonobiotus and Micropsammella. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]