Evolutionary diversification and functional genomic studies of the Collodictyonidae (completed)

This projects uses new methods to shed light upon distribution of related organisms, their evolutionary development and systematic relationship to other organisms.

About the project

Collodictyon triciliatum Carter 1865 is an amoebo-flagellate originally described from a pond in India. It is occasionally found in freshwater lakes and rivers, but it is rare and its systematic relationship to other amoeba and flagellate-like organisms has been uncertain. We have a culture of this organism, isolated from lake Årungen, and had only done some preliminary light- and electronmicroscopical work on this organisms.

The overall goal of this project is to obtain an understanding of the origin and evolutionary traits of an allegedly primitive organism, by use of frontline methods now available. In addition, by employing environmental PCR and recently developed methods using the 454-titanium technology, we expect to shed light upon the distribution of related organisms in nature, and to obtain a scientifically founded idea about the evolutionary development and systematic relationship to other organisms. This may involve a discussion of what are ancestrally primitive eukaryote traits.This investigation leads us into questions of great general interest.

Objectives

  1. Investigate the molecular phylogeny of a Collodicyonidae species already in culture
  2. Study the distribution and diversity of possibly related species by means of environmental rDNA PCR and/or selected genes
  3. Bring new related organisms in culture for identification of allegedly primitive traits by molecular methods
  4. Discuss the relation between these organisms and the concept of the most primitive eukaryote
Tags: Evolution, Microbiology, Eukaryotic microbiology
Published Apr. 19, 2017 1:19 PM - Last modified Oct. 15, 2019 11:26 AM

Participants

Detailed list of participants