Digital Commons Network^™

Distribution And Diversity Of Planktonic Ciliates: Patterns And Processes, Mary Doherty

Open Access Dissertations

The nature and extent of microbial biodiversity remain controversial with persistent debates over patterns of distributions (i.e. cosmopolitanism vs. endemism) and the processes that structure these patterns (neutrality vs. selection). We used culture-independent approaches to address these issues focusing on two groups of ciliates, the Oligotrichia (Spirotrichea) and Choreotrichea (Spirotrichea). To assess the diversity of these ciliates, we designed primers specific to SSU rDNA of ciliates within these clades, and investigated (1) geographic and temporal distributions along three coastal sites in the Northwest Atlantic; (2) the relationship between ciliate communities in the benthos and the plankton along the New England …