Denis H. Lynn received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in 1975. He is currently at the University of Guelph and is an associate editor for the Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. His research interests include cellular evolution, ciliates, and the microbial loop (University of Guelph, 1998.) He can be reached at: Department of Zoology, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1 (Jerome et al., 1996.)
Lynn and others (Jerome et al., 1996) identified a new species of Tetrahymena, which they named Tetrahymena empidokyrea. The experimenters had wished to find out which species in the Tetrahymena pyriformis complex infects Aedes mosquitoes. In the 1980's and in 1994, larval and adult Aedes were collected. They were dissected in spring water to release their haemolymph, which was then analyzed for ciliates. The experimenters observed life cycles and tried to induce transformations in the ciliates, and tried to mate them with known species, to identify which species of Tetrahymena they were. Genetic material of the unknown species was then sequenced and compared to the genetic material of known species to determine its phylogenetic position.
The unknown species did not possess the characteristics of and did not mate with the known species. Genetic testing showed the unknown to be a new species, which was given the name Tetrahymena empidokyrea. It is believed to be basal to all species of Tetrahymena in a phylogenetic tree.
REFERENCES
Jerome, Cheryl A., Ellen M. Simon, and Denis H. Lynn, 1996. Description of Tetrahymena empidokyrea n.sp., a new species in the Tetrahymena pyriformis sibling species complex (Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea), and an assessment of its phylogenetic position using small-subunit rRNA sequences. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 74: 1898-1906.
University of Guelph, 1998. Denis H. Lynn. http://www.uoguelph.ca/zoology/lynn.htm. [Web Site]
January 1998
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