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Importance of morphological, ultrastructural, and molecular analyses for the higher taxonomy of ciliates
Šimáčková, Aneta ; Čepička, Ivan (advisor) ; Hampl, Vladimír (referee)
Ciliophora are one of the largest groups of protists. They have three typical features - (1). the presence of many cilia, covering the cell, (2). nuclear dualism, and (3). conjugation. The systematics of the phylum Ciliophora has changed greatly during the last decades. This was caused by the development of new methods used for studying the ciliates. The first systems were based on the morphology of structures in the oral region. Based on these structures, Levine et al. published a system of ciliates in 1980, which they divided into three classes. However, it was found later that this system was not natural because oral structures do not reflect the phylogeny, and the structure of somatic structures was shown to be a more useful feature. Small and Lynn created a system based on the structure of somatic kinetids, where they divided the ciliates into three subphyla and eight classes. However, subsequent molecular analyses did not support this system. They divided the ciliates into two subphyla (Postciliodesmatophora and Intramacronucleata), and the number of classes was elevated to eleven. Today, additional six new classes of ciliates are recognised. They were created mainly on the based of phylogenomic and phylogenetic analyses. The classes of the subphylum Intramacronucleata are grouped into three...
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