Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2017
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E82
Höfundar / Authors: Ragnhildur Guðmundsdóttir (1), Bjarni Kristófer Kristjánsson (2), Viggó Þór Marteinsson (3) og Snæbjörn Pálsson (1)
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Háskóli Íslands, 2. Háskólinn á Hólum, 3. Matís.
Kynnir / Presenter: Ragnhildur Guðmundsdóttir
The endemic groundwater amphipod, Crangonyx islandicus, lives in springs in lava fields of the volcanic zone in Iceland. Inspection of the amphipods and molecular analysis of the 18S RNA revealed ciliates associated with the amphipods. Five previously unsequenced species from the orders Apostomatida and Philasterida were found. To explore the ecosystem of the springs we applied the eDNA method by filtering water samples, and using artificial substrate to sample microbes. DNA was extracted from the water samples, the substrate and from the amphipods. Ciliate 18S RNA was targeted by specific primers and sequenced. Distinct microbial assemblages were found in each sample type with some overlapping, especially of the water samples and the artificial substrate. The most common ciliates found in the amphipods (90%) are relatives of the genus Fusiforma (Apostomatida), known for being epibionts on crustaceans. Other common ciliate taxa are from the genera Miamiensis (6%) and Trichodina (1%), both known for parasitizing freshwater organisms. The rest is divided between 13 OTUs with total 2.5% of the total sequences. In both the water samples and on the artificial substrate, the most common group was from the subclass Hymenostomatia with 14% and 36% respectively. The metabarcoding method confirms our previous findings on the species associated with C. islandicus and adds more taxa to otherwise poorly studied ciliate fauna of Iceland and to the ecology of its groundwater.