海南岛沿海砂壳纤毛虫的生物多样性研究

As one of important components in the marine microzooplankton, tintinnid ciliates play a vital role in the processes of microbial food webs such as energy flux and trophic interaction, and have raised high attention in the fields of marine ecology, resource biology and so on. So far, the study of tintinnid ciliates in China has been carried out mainly in the East China Sea (including Taiwan Strait), the Yellow and Bohai Sea extremely, while in the South China Sea area, taxonomic study of this group is extremely lacking. This project will aim to: 1) carry out and complete studies focusing on biodiversity of tintinnids in various types of marine habitats around Hainan island, including community composition, spatial distribution characteristics, description supported by modern taxonomic methods, faunal classification and genetic diversity; 2) construct DNA bank, complete sequencing of the mark genes (18s, etc.) and submission to GenBank; 3) based on molecular information, construct phylogenetic trees, combined with morphological information, analyse and reconstruct systematics of insufficient studied taxa, clarify taxonomic confusion and revise errors. This project will provide an important first-hand basic data for understanding the fauna and taxonomy, composition and evolutionary characteristics of the tintinnid ciliates in tropical China seas, and for researches in marine ecology, as well as other related fields.

作为海洋微型浮游动物的重要组成，砂壳纤毛虫在海洋微食物网的物质循环和能量流动中发挥着重要的枢纽作用并成为海洋生态学、资源生物学等领域高度关注的对象。然而，国内迄今对该类群的研究主要在黄渤海和东海（包括台湾海峡）开展，在南海水域的研究仍高度缺乏。本项目将聚焦：1）以海南岛近岸为采样点，开展各类生境中砂壳纤毛虫物种多样性为核心的研究，包括对未知种现代分类信息的揭示和描述，初步形成该海域砂壳纤毛虫区系分类及基因多样性信息；2）完成对所采集物种的DNA库构建和对18S rRNA等标记基因的序列测定；3）构建相关类群的分子系统树，探讨其分子系统发育关系，并结合形态学信息，解答分类学和系统学研究中的悬疑问题，包括澄清和修订未明、混乱和错误。本研究将为了解我国热带海区砂壳纤毛虫的区系构成与演化特征、为生物海洋学，特别是分子生态学等领域的研究提供急需的第一手数据和重要图鉴资料。

砂壳纤毛虫作为海洋微型浮游生物群落的重要组成，近年来是海洋微生态领域的研究热点。然而，该类群的基础分类学研究长期匮乏，严重阻碍了海洋浮游生态学的发展。三年来本项目围绕海南岛各类近海生境，开展了以砂壳纤毛虫生物多样性为核心的研究。基于现代分类学手段，描述、鉴定了砂壳纤毛虫若干类群，发现了10个中国新纪录种，首次揭示了8个已知种的纤毛图式特征，初步形成海南岛砂壳纤毛虫的区系分类及物种多样性信息。完成了28种砂壳纤毛虫的DNA提取和保存工作，对18种砂壳纤毛虫开展了核糖体基因测序和提交，补充了国际纤毛虫分子信息。基于分子系统树，对多种砂壳纤毛虫的系统地位进行了探讨。基于分子系统学和分类学研究成果，总结了砂壳纤毛虫的纤毛模式类型，并探讨了其纤毛模式的进化关系。已在本领域国际主流刊物上发表文章8篇。极大补充了海南岛砂壳纤毛虫的现代分类学信息，为海洋浮游微生物的多样性与生态研究提供了可靠的基础资料。