{"response":{"status":"ok","message_type":"publication"},"id":3493,"citation":"Kendlbacher et al., 2024, PLOS ONE","doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0300758","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/publications/3493.json","link_ext":"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300758","title":"Zoothamnium mariella sp. nov., a marine, colonial ciliate with an atypcial growth pattern, and its ectosymbiont Candidatus Fusimicrobium zoothamnicola gen. nov., sp. nov.","journal":"PLOS ONE","journal_loc":"19 (4)","journal_date":"2024-04-01","pub_type":"journal-article","abstract":"\u003cjats:p\u003eCiliates are unicellular eukaryotes, regularly involved in symbiotic associations. Symbionts may colonize the inside of their cells as well as their surface as ectosymbionts. Here, we report on a new ciliate species, designated as\u003cjats:italic\u003eZoothamnium mariella\u003c/jats:italic\u003esp. nov. (Peritrichia, Sessilida), discovered in the northern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea) in 2021. We found this ciliate species to be monospecifically associated with a new genus of ectosymbiotic bacteria, here proposed as\u003cjats:italic\u003eCandidatus\u003c/jats:italic\u003eFusimicrobium zoothamnicola gen. nov., sp. nov. To formally describe the new ciliate species, we investigated its morphology and sequenced its 18S rRNA gene. To demonstrate its association with a single species of bacterial ectosymbiont, we performed 16S rRNA gene sequencing, fluorescence\u003cjats:italic\u003ein situ\u003c/jats:italic\u003ehybridization, and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, we explored the two partners’ cultivation requirements and ecology.\u003cjats:italic\u003eZ. mariella\u003c/jats:italic\u003esp. nov. was characterized by a colony length of up to 1 mm. A consistent number of either seven or eight long branches alternated on the stalk in close distance to each other. The colony developed three different types of zooids: microzooids (“trophic stage”), macrozooids (“telotroch stage”), and terminal zooids (“dividing stage”). Viewed from inside the cell, the microzooids’ oral ciliature ran in 1 ¼ turns in a clockwise direction around the peristomial disc before entering the infundibulum, where it performed another ¾ turn. Phylogenetic analyses assigned\u003cjats:italic\u003eZ. mariella\u003c/jats:italic\u003esp. nov. to clade II of the family Zoothamnidae. The ectosymbiont formed a monophyletic clade within the\u003cjats:italic\u003eGammaproteobacteria\u003c/jats:italic\u003ealong with two other ectosymbionts of peritrichous ciliates and a free-living vent bacterium. It colonized the entire surface of its ciliate host, except for the most basal stalk of large colonies, and exhibited a single, spindle-shaped morphotype. Furthermore, the two partners together appear to be generalists of temperate, oxic, marine shallow-water environments and were collectively cultivable in steady flow-through systems.\u003c/jats:p\u003e","long_citation_html":"Kendlbacher et al. (2024). Zoothamnium mariella sp. nov., a marine, colonial ciliate with an atypcial growth pattern, and its ectosymbiont Candidatus Fusimicrobium zoothamnicola gen. nov., sp. nov. \n\u003ci\u003ePLOS ONE\u003c/i\u003e. \u003ca href=\"https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300758\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0300758\u003c/a\u003e\n","created_at":"2024-04-02T22:00:35.926Z","updated_at":"2025-11-06T14:38:31.556Z","authors":[{"id":13834,"given":"Vincent","family":"Kendlbacher","created_at":"2024-04-02T22:00:35.935Z","updated_at":"2024-04-02T22:00:35.935Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/13834.json"},{"id":13835,"given":"Teresa Maria Rosa","family":"Winter","created_at":"2024-04-02T22:00:35.948Z","updated_at":"2024-04-02T22:00:35.948Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/13835.json"},{"id":1935,"given":"Monika","family":"Bright","created_at":"2019-04-15T18:47:02.530Z","updated_at":"2019-04-15T18:47:02.530Z","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/authors/1935.json"}],"names":[{"id":44094,"name":"Candidatus Fusimicrobium zoothamnicola","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/names/44094.json","uri":"https://seqco.de/i:44094"}],"subjects":[{"id":58,"name":"Multidisciplinary","url":"https://api.seqco.de/v1/subjects/58.json"}]}