Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Microbial Diversity and Culture Collections".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 June 2022) | Viewed by 5835

Special Issue Editor

School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Interests: microbial diversity; genomes; taxonomy and systematics; marine microbiology; extreme environments

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

That most eukaryotes are microbial was long overlooked by many microbiologists, particularly those investigating the diversity of microbial communities in environmental and clinical settings. Although the advent of high-throughput DNA sequencing and its application in community analysis revealed myriad uncultivated microbial eukaryotes, many with unforeseen lifestyles, the focus remained largely on non-eukaryotic fractions. However, more recent DNA sequencing technologies and concomitant advances in computing power and bioinformatic tools invigorated the field, e.g., comparative analyses of microbial eukaryote genomes have provided insights into eukaryote evolution, such as the appearance of similar traits in unrelated lineages over time. Such work also informs how the more conspicuous multicellular eukaryotes that surround us today arose. Compiling a Special Issue on the "Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes" requires recognition that diversity means different things to different people. Thus, contributors may focus on individual or multiple aspects of diversity as that term pertains to microbial eukaryotes, including, but not limited to, genetic diversity within a species or other taxonomic unit, evolutionary history, metabolic or taxonomic diversity in communities, the diversity of lifestyles, or conservation, ecology, or biogeography.

Prof. Stuart Donachie
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • microbial eukaryotes
  • diversity
  • evolution
  • genomics
  • comparative genomics
  • sequencing
  • metagenomics
  • taxonomy
  • bioinformatics
  • phylogenomics

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2027 KiB  
Article
Molecular Variation and Phylogeny within Fusarium avenaceum and Related Species
by Tapani Yli-Mattila, Asmaa Abbas, Olga Gavrilova and Tatiana Gagkaeva
Diversity 2022, 14(7), 574; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d14070574 - 18 Jul 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1914
Abstract
Many recent articles feature research on the Fusarium tricinctum species complex (FTSC), and their authors present different ideas on how the isolates of this species complex can be identified at the species level. In previous studies, our aim was to investigate the phylogeny [...] Read more.
Many recent articles feature research on the Fusarium tricinctum species complex (FTSC), and their authors present different ideas on how the isolates of this species complex can be identified at the species level. In previous studies, our aim was to investigate the phylogeny of FTSC strains, which researchers have morphologically identified as Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium arthrosporioides, and Fusarium anguioides. In the current study, our phylogenetic maximum parsimony and likelihood analyses of the DNA sequences of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha (TEF1) and combined sequences of TEF1 and beta-tubulin (TUB2) supported the existence of at least four main groups among these strains. Main Group I mainly contains F. avenaceum strains, while Main Group II contains two subgroups, one of which primarily includes F. arthrosporioides strains, and the other mainly includes European F. anguioides strains. Main Group III contains strains from different plants that originated from Asia, including two F. anguioides strains. F. avenaceum strains, which are mostly isolated from different trees, form Main Group IV. A fifth group (Main Group V) was only supported by TEF1 sequences. The main groups previously found by us based on TUB2 sequences could be connected to the new species of the FTSC, which were identified based on TEF1 sequences. In addition, we found strains that significantly differ from Main Groups I-V, and we grouped some of them as single, intermediate, or sister groups. All of the main groups of the present work, and some single and intermediate strains, may represent different species of the FTSC, while the two subgroups of Main Group II constitute intraspecific variation. Regardless of whether they belonged to the main groups, all the analysed strains were able to form different enniatins and 2-amino-14,16-dimethyloctadecan-3-ol, but did not produce beauvericin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes)
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25 pages, 2486 KiB  
Article
Fusarium casha sp. nov. and F. curculicola sp. nov. in the Fusarium fujikuroi Species Complex Isolated from Amaranthuscruentus and Three Weevil Species in South Africa
by Marcele Vermeulen, Lisa A. Rothmann, Wijnand J. Swart and Marieka Gryzenhout
Diversity 2021, 13(10), 472; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/d13100472 - 28 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3210
Abstract
Trials are currently being conducted in South Africa to establish Amaranthus cruentus as a new pseudocereal crop. During recent surveys, Fusarium species were associated with weevil damage in A. cruentus fields. Preliminary studies showed that some of these Fusarium species grouped into two [...] Read more.
Trials are currently being conducted in South Africa to establish Amaranthus cruentus as a new pseudocereal crop. During recent surveys, Fusarium species were associated with weevil damage in A. cruentus fields. Preliminary studies showed that some of these Fusarium species grouped into two distinct clades within the F. fujikuroi species complex. The aim of this study was to characterize these isolates based on the morphology and phylogeny of the translation elongation factor 1α (TEF1α) gene region, ß-tubulin 2 (ßT) gene region and RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB2), and to determine if these isolates are pathogenic to A. cruentus. Phylogenetic and morphological studies showed that these two clades represent two novel species described here as F. casha and F. curculicola. Both species were shown to have the potential to be pathogenic to A. cruentus during routine greenhouse inoculation tests. While isolations indicate a possible association between these two species and weevils, further research is needed to understand this association and the role of weevils in disease development involving F. casha and F. curculicola in A. cruentus. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diversity of Microbial Eukaryotes)
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