International Journal of Marine Science, 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 172-181 http://www.aquapublisher.com/index.php/ijms 175 D2 region of LSU rDNA have been identified as promising markers for species delineation in the genus Frontonia (Zhao et al., 2016). Additionally, the hypervariable V4 region of the small subunit rDNA and the D1-D2 region of the large subunit rDNA have been effective in species delimitation for the genus Euplotes (Zhao et al., 2018). These molecular markers offer high resolution and accuracy, facilitating the identification of cryptic species and enhancing our understanding of ciliate taxonomy. Fiture 2 Maximum likelihood (ML) phylogenetic tree inferred from 18S rDNA sequences (91 heterotrichean and 5 karyorelictean taxa) (Adopted from Chi et al., 2020) Image caption: The posterior probabilities from the Bayesian inference (BI) were mapped onto the ML tree. Asterisks indicate a mismatch in branching pattern between the ML and BI trees. The newly sequenced species in this study are shown in red font. The scale bar corresponds to 2 substitutions per 100 nucleotide positions (Adopted from Chi et al., 2020) 3.3 Biogeographical patterns of ciliate diversity Biogeographical patterns of ciliate diversity reveal significant spatial and environmental influences on community composition. Studies in floodplain lakes in Brazil demonstrated that molecular data could detect broad-scale spatial patterns, while morphological data reflected local environmental controls (Lansac‐Tôha et al., 2022). This dual approach highlighted the importance of both spatial factors and environmental variables in shaping ciliate
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