Exploring the hidden diversity of widespread predatory amoebae of the order Vampyrellida (Rhizaria)

吸血虫目包括捕食性变形虫，形成一个大的和遗传多样性的根瘤原生生物分支。我们知道这些复杂的微生物专门捕食其他真核生物，但它们的实际多样性和生态作用仍然是支离破碎的。我们将对淡水，海洋和陆地栖息地进行采样，通过单细胞分离建立吸血鬼培养物，通过光学和电子显微镜研究它们的细胞结构，并通过实验室实验揭示它们的摄食生态学。这将与下一代测序技术相结合，以评估在采样不足的栖息地中的遗传吸血鬼多样性，并解决主要吸血鬼分支（家族）的进化关系。有了这些，计划中的工作将进一步加深我们对这些广泛存在且生态上有趣的微生物的表型理解，并为它们的鉴定提供基础。

The order Vampyrellida comprises predatory amoebae forming a large and genetically diverse clade of rhizarian protists. We know that these intricate microbes specifically prey on other eukaryotes, but their actual diversity and ecological roles are still fragmentarily known. We will sample freshwater, marine and terrestrial habitats, establish vampyrellid cultures by single cell isolation, study their cell structure by light and electron microscopy, and shed light on their feeding ecology with lab experiments. This will be combined with next-generation sequencing techniques to assess the genetic vampyrellid diversity in poorly sampled habitats, and to resolve the evolutionary relationships of the major vampyrellid clades (families). With that, the planned work will further our phenotypic understanding of these widespread and ecologically interesting microbes, and provide a basis for their identification.