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Zhang Y, Li H, Wang Y, Nie M, Zhang K, Pan J, Zhang Y, Ye Z, Zufall RA, Lynch M, Long H. Mitogenomic architecture and evolution of the soil ciliates Colpoda. mSystems 2024; 9:e0116123. [PMID: 38259100 PMCID: PMC10878089 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01161-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/14/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Colpoda are cosmopolitan unicellular eukaryotes primarily inhabiting soil and benefiting plant growth, but they remain one of the least understood taxa in genetics and genomics within the realm of ciliated protozoa. Here, we investigate the architecture of de novo assembled mitogenomes of six Colpoda species, using long-read sequencing and involving 36 newly isolated natural strains in total. The mitogenome sizes span from 43 to 63 kbp and typically contain 28-33 protein-coding genes. They possess a linear structure with variable telomeres and central repeats, with one Colpoda elliotti strain isolated from Tibet harboring the longest telomeres among all studied ciliates. Phylogenomic analyses reveal that Colpoda species started to diverge more than 326 million years ago, eventually evolving into two distinct groups. Collinearity analyses also reveal significant genomic divergences and a lack of long collinear blocks. One of the most notable features is the exceptionally high level of gene rearrangements between mitochondrial genomes of different Colpoda species, dominated by gene loss events. Population-level mitogenomic analysis on natural strains also demonstrates high sequence divergence, regardless of geographic distance, but the gene order remains highly conserved within species, offering a new species identification criterion for Colpoda species. Furthermore, we identified underlying heteroplasmic sites in the majority of strains of three Colpoda species, albeit without a discernible recombination signal to account for this heteroplasmy. This comprehensive study systematically unveils the mitogenomic structure and evolution of these ancient and ecologically significant Colpoda ciliates, thus laying the groundwork for a deeper understanding of the evolution of unicellular eukaryotes.IMPORTANCEColpoda, one of the most widespread ciliated protozoa in soil, are poorly understood in regard to their genetics and evolution. Our research revealed extreme mitochondrial gene rearrangements dominated by gene loss events, potentially leading to the streamlining of Colpoda mitogenomes. Surprisingly, while interspecific rearrangements abound, our population-level mitogenomic study revealed a conserved gene order within species, offering a potential new identification criterion. Phylogenomic analysis traced their lineage over 326 million years, revealing two distinct groups. Substantial genomic divergence might be associated with the lack of extended collinear blocks and relaxed purifying selection. This study systematically reveals Colpoda ciliate mitogenome structures and evolution, providing insights into the survival and evolution of these vital soil microorganisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuanyuan Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Haichao Li
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Yaohai Wang
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Mu Nie
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Kexin Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Jiao Pan
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Yu Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
- School of Mathematics Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
| | - Zhiqiang Ye
- School of Life Sciences, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
| | - Rebecca A. Zufall
- Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Michael Lynch
- Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Hongan Long
- Key Laboratory of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity (Ministry of Education), Institute of Evolution and Marine Biodiversity, KLMME, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
- Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China
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Liu L, Jiang M, Zhou C, Li B, Song Y, Pan X. Further insights into the phylogeny of facultative parasitic ciliates associated with tetrahymenosis (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) based on multigene data. Ecol Evol 2023; 13:e10504. [PMID: 37680958 PMCID: PMC10480068 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Tetrahymenosis, caused by about 10 Tetrahymena species, is an emerging problem inflicting a significant economic loss on the aquaculture industry worldwide. However, in the order Tetrahymenida, there are many unresolved evolutionary relationships among taxa. Here we report 21 new sequences, including SSU-rRNA, ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 rRNA and LSU-rRNA, genes of 10 facultative parasitic Tetrahymena associated with tetrahymenosis, and conduct phylogenetic analyses based on each individual gene and a three-gene concatenated dataset. The main findings are: (1) All the parasitic and facultative parasitic species cluster in borealis group. (2) With the addition of new sequences, Tetrahymena is still divided into three groups, namely the "borealis group", the "australis group," and the "paravorax group." (3) the cluster pattern of all the newly sequenced facultative parasitic Tetrahymena species shows that members of the "borealis" group may be more susceptible to parasitism. (4) phylogeny based on concatenated genes show that T. pyriformis, T. setosa, and T. leucophrys have close relationship.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihui Liu
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Mingyue Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Chunyu Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Bailin Li
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Yumeng Song
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
| | - Xuming Pan
- Key Laboratory of Biodiversity of Aquatic OrganismsHarbin Normal UniversityHarbinChina
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