叶咽纲和前口纲是高度形态多样化、包含了菌食-藻食-肉食和杂食等各营养型的两大类纤毛虫原生动物，是海洋微型生态系统中最重要的枢纽功能类群之一：在"微食物环"和后生动物之间起着重要的营养连接作用, 也是营养盐再生和溶解有机物生产的主要贡献者。然而因种种原因，该类群也是海洋纤毛门中所了解最少的，国内迄今的工作重点均没有涉及这两大类群。本项目将围绕南中国海沿岸的各类生境，综合运用形态学、细胞学和分子手段开展有关其物种多样性与区系、构成与时空分布以及系统发育的探讨，填补我国亚热带海区该类群研究的空白，同步开展对缺失类群的DNA库构建，并对地位不明的相关目-科-属级类群完成系统关系的定位、清理及系统分析，从而为海洋原生动物的多样性、生态学、环境生物学、功能基因组学等相关领域研究的深入拓展提供一份现代技术基础上的重要资料和研究素材。

The phyllopharyngean and prostomatean ciliates are highly diverse, including bacterivores, algivores, carnovores, omnivores and other functional groups, which are one of the main components of almost all marine micro-ecosystem, and play an important role in trophic link between the 'microbial loop' and metazoans, and is also a major contributor to nutrient regeneration and dissolved organic matter production. However, due to small body size, fewer live features and other reasons, both are so far two of least understood classes in the Ciliophora. Previous work our research team performed does not focus on these two groups. The proposed project will carry out studies on faunistic composition, taxonomy and systematics of the related ciliates collected from various habitats of the South China Sea coast using the combination of morphological, cytological and molecular methods. Its main aim is to clarify the confusion and errors in traditional taxonomy, to establish DNA library of unknown marine forms, and to complete systematic revision and reconstruction of part 'status unknown' taxa at different levels, so as to fill up the research blank related to these two groups in subtropical sea, provide a much-needed, modern technique-based important identification information for the deepening and expansion of research on marine protozoan diversity, ecology and other related area, and be expected to supply a unique research materials for functional genomics of eukaryotic microorganisms.