Unveiling hidden eukaryotes: diversity of Endomyxa (Rhizaria) in coastal marine habitats

Abstract

Nucleic acid based studies of marine biodiversity often focus on Kingdom-level diversity. Such approaches often largely miss diversity of less studied groups, likely to harbour many unknown lineages which are likely playing significant ecological roles. Among these elusive groups are Endomyxa (Rhizaria), a ubiquitous, but understudied lineage comprising parasites (e.g. Ascetosporea, Phytomyxea), free-living amoebae (e.g. Vampyrellida, Gromia, Filoreta), flagellates (e.g. Tremula, Aquavolon), and unknown environmental lineages. Using Endomyxa-biased primers targeting the hypervariable region V4 of the 18S rRNA gene, we explored the diversity of Endomyxa in marine samples from European coastal sites and compared it to that found in pan-eukaryote V4 libraries of the same samples. In total 458 endomyxan OTUs were identified, of which 38% were only detected by the specific primers. Most are distinct from published sequences, and include novel diversity within known clades, and putative novel lineages. The data revealed variations in endomyxan assemblages related to habitat (benthic vs. pelagic, sampling site), mode of nutrition (parasitic vs. free-living) and nucleic acid type (DNA vs. RNA). Overall, the vast majority of endomyxan diversity occurs in sediments (including Vampyrellida, Reticulosida, and the environmental “Novel Clade 12”) where they form diverse and active communities including many uncharacterised lineages.