Small Subunit Ribosomal DNA Suggests that the Xenophyophorean Syringammina corbicula is a Foraminiferan
- Author(s)
- Jan Pawlowski, Maria Holzmann, José F. Fahrni, Susan L. Richardson
- Abstract
Xenophyophorea are giant deep-sea rhizopodial protists of enigmatic origins. Although species were described as Foraminifera or sponges in the early literature, the xenophyophoreans are currently classified either as a class of Rhizopoda or an independent phylum. To establish the phylogenetic position of Xenophyophorea, we analysed the small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequence of Syringammina corbicula Richardson, a newly described xenophyophorean species from the Cape Verde Plateau. The SSUrDNA analyses showed that S. corbicula is closely related to Rhizammina algaeformis, a tubular deep-sea foraminiferan. Both species branch within a group of monothalamous (single-chambered) Foraminifera, which include also such agglutinated genera as Toxisarcon, Rhabdammina, and Saccammina, and the organic-walled genera Gloiogullmia and Cylindrogullmia. Our results are congruent with observations of similar cytoplasmic organisation in Rhizammina and Syringammina. Thus, the Xenophyophorea appear to be a highly specialised group of deep-sea Foraminifera.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology
- External organisation(s)
- Université de Genève, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
- Journal
- The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
- Volume
- 50
- Pages
- 483-487
- No. of pages
- 5
- ISSN
- 1066-5234
- Publication date
- 2003
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105118 Palaeontology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/36f984b8-05b7-4a64-8c0f-ae2af2d32d9d