Complementary DNA sequencing (cDNA): an eff ective approach for assessing the diversity and distribution of marine benthic ciliates along hydrographic gradients

摘要

The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM)is a distinct hydrographic phenomenon of the Yellow Sea,and the distribution pattern of meio-and macrobenthos diff ers inside and outside of the YSCWM.However,such a pattern has never been observed in the microbenthic ciliate communities.Therefore,we hypothesized that benthic ciliates followed a similar distribution pattern as meio-and macrobenthos,but this pattern has not been uncovered by morphological methods.We evaluated the diversity and distribution of benthic ciliates at fi ve stations along hydrographic gradients across the YSCWM and adjacent shallow water by using morphology and DNA and complementary DNA(cDNA)high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region of 18S rRNA gene.Results showed that the diversity of benthic ciliates detected by DNA(303 OTUs),and the cDNA(611 OTUs)sequencing was much higher than that detected by the morphological method(79 species).Morphological method detected roughly diff erent ciliate communities inside and outside of the YSCWM,but without statistical signifi cance.No clear pattern was obtained by DNA sequencing.In contrast,cDNA sequencing revealed a distinct distribution pattern of benthic ciliate communities like meioand macrobenthos,which coincided well with the results of the environmental parameter analysis.More than half of the total sequences detected by DNA sequencing belonged to planktonic ciliates,most(if not all)of which were recovered from historic DNA originating through the sedimentation of pelagic forms because none of them were observed morphologically.The irrelevant historic DNA greatly infl uenced the recovery of rare species and thus limited the understanding of the benthic ciliate diversity and distribution.Our research indicates that the methods used have signifi cant eff ects on the investigation of benthic ciliate communities and highlights that cDNA sequencing has great advantages in estimating the diversity and distribution of benthic ciliates,as well as the potential for benthic environmental assessments.