Macaronesian diversification: Potential isolation of benthic marine protists on seamounts and islands

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Heterotrophic protists make up the majority of all genotypes discovered to date in the ocean. Even today, our understanding of the processes that led to this enormous diversity is very limited. The study of evolutionary processes at the base of the tree of life is fundamental to conserving ocean biodiversity and understanding speciation and the underlying mechanisms. Our preliminary work from the Azores archipelago and deep-sea basins indicated that there are significant differences in species composition between sublittoral/bathyal benthic protist communities compared to deep-sea communities. The aim of the project application is to add important comparative data from the bathyal region of two Atlantic islands distant from the Azores - Madeira and Porto Santo - which is made possible by an exceptional offer of participation in two expeditions with a deep-sea submarine in the last year of its existence will. It would 'only' require the diving cost and some additional cost for sequencing and transport. Using cultivation techniques and molecular studies, we want to test the hypothesis that several benthic seamount/island protozoan species are geographically isolated and this may contribute to speciation similar to what is known for metazoans.