Publications (5) View all
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Article: Molecular diversity of myxomycetes near Siegen (Germany)
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ABSTRACT: Genetic variations of myxomycetes were seldom studied. Different probes were collected in the general vicinity of the city of Siegen, Germany, with a special focus on Fuligo septica. Three different habitats around Siegen were screened for myxomycetes. Fuligo septica var. flava was examined for intraspecific variation using DNA sequence analysis. A 142 bp region of the mitochondrial small subunit was analyzed. Although the sequence analysis did not strictly assign individuals to separate groups related to their geographical regions. Herewith I present the first molecular genetic tree revealing intraspecific variation that occurs within the morphospecies F. septica.Mycoscience 12/2012; · 1.21 Impact Factor -
Article: Methylobacterium bullatum sp. nov., a methylotrophic bacterium isolated from Funaria hygrometrica.
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ABSTRACT: A novel, pink-pigmented aerobic, facultatively methylotrophic bacterial strain (F3.2(T)) isolated from the phyllosphere of Funaria hygrometrica, was analyzed using a polyphasic approach. Cells were Gram-negative, motile rods, strictly aerobic and non-spore-forming and exhibited surface structures varying in quantity, distribution and morphology. The isolate grew at 10-33°C over a pH range of 5.5-8.0 and in the presence of less than 1.0% NaCl. Strain F3.2(T) shared less than 70% DNA-DNA binding to the next type strain of the genus Methylobacterium (M. adhaesivum DSM 17169(T)). In addition to the major cellular fatty acid C(18:1)ω7c (81.7%), present in all Methylobacterium species (and also members of the genus Alphaproteobacteria), a high value (11.7%) of the fatty acids (summed feature) C(16:1)ω7c and/or iso-C(15:0)2OH was determined. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rDNA and methanol dehydrogenase gene sequences, DNA-DNA hybridization values, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic characteristics indicate that the strain F3.2(T) represents a novel species within the genus Methylobacterium. We propose the name Methylobacterium bullatum sp. nov. for this species. The type strain is the strain F3.2(T) (DSM 21893(T)=LMG 24788(T)).Systematic and Applied Microbiology 05/2011; 34(7):482-6. · 3.37 Impact Factor -
Article: A new species of Physarum (Myxomycetes) from a boreal pine forest in Thuringia (Germany)
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ABSTRACT: A new species of plasmodial slime mold, Physarum parvicalcareum, recorded from flowering stalks, leaves and stems of the common heather (Calluna vulgaris) that commonly inhabits boreal pine forests in Thuringia (Germany) is described on the basis of morphological features of the capillitium and the spores. Phylogenetic trees, reconstructed using data from elongation factor-1 alpha and small subunit ribosomal RNA gene sequence analyses, corroborate the taxonomic status of this new species. In addition, these results provide evidence for the congruence of morphological and molecular data in this group of eukaryotic microorganisms.Mycotaxon. 01/2011; 114:7-14. -
Article: In the shadow of Darwin: Anton de Bary’s origin of myxomycetology and a molecular phylogeny of the plasmodial slime molds
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ABSTRACT: In his Origin of Species (John Murray, London, 1859), Charles Darwin described the theory of descent with modification by means of natural selection and postulated that all life may have evolved from one or a few simple kinds of organisms. However, Darwin’s concept of evolutionary change is entirely based on observations of populations of animals and plants. He briefly mentioned ‘lower algae’, but ignored amoebae, bacteria and other microorganisms. In 1859, Anton de Bary, the founder of mycology and plant pathology, published a seminal paper on the biology and taxonomy of the plasmodial slime molds (myxomycetes). These heterotrophic protists are known primarily as a large composite mass, the plasmodium, in which single nuclei are suspended in a common ‘naked’ cytoplasm that is surrounded by a plasma membrane. Here we summarize the contents of de Bary’s 1859 publication and highlight the significance of this scientific classic with respect to the establishment of the kingdom Protoctista (protists such as amoebae), the development of the protoplasmic theory of the cell, the introduction of the concept of symbiosis and the rejection of the dogma of spontaneous generation. We describe the life cycle of the myxomycetes, present new observations on the myxamoebae and propose a higher-order phylogeny based on elongation factor-1 alpha gene sequences. Our results document the congruence between the morphology-based taxonomy of the myxomycetes and molecular data. In addition, we show that free-living amoebae, common protists in the soil, are among the closest living relatives of the myxomycetes and conclude that de Bary’s ‘Amoebahypothesis’ on the evolutionary origin of the plasmodial slime molds may have been correct.Theory in Biosciences 01/2010; · 0.98 Impact Factor -
Thesis: Untersuchungen zur Entwicklungsphysiologie und molekularen Phylogenetik ausgewählter Vertreter der Myxomyceten und zur Photosynthese fähiger Eugleniden (Organismenreich Protoctista).
01/2009, Degree: Dr., Supervisor: Prof. Dr. U. Kutschera
