<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xue, Xia</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adams, Byron J.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">An Antarctic worm and its soil ecosystem: A review of an emerging research program in ecological genomics</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Applied Soil Ecology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ecological amplitude</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">ecological succession</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">elemental stoichiometry</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">extreme environments</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">life history evolution</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">model systems</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2024</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">01/2024</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929139323003086</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">193</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">105110</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Relationships between the evolution of species and their ecosystems can be difficult to accurately assess due to the high number of confounding biological variables (e.g., biotic interactions among community members and the resulting complex relationships between genetic pathways and organism phenotypes). Thus, progress in ecological genomics by making inferences about fundamental ecological patterns and processes is hampered by high biodiversity and subsequent complex biotic interactions. Study systems that are naturally low in biological and ecological complexity, and strongly structured by abiotic drivers, can serve as models for bridging the gap between controlled mesocosm experiments and natural ecosystems. The terrestrial ecosystems of the Antarctic dry valleys have low biodiversity and constrained ecological complexity, primarily because ecological communities are so strongly shaped by physical, rather than biological, factors. The harsh constraints of the physical environment on organismal evolution and the structure of ecological communities make this an optimal natural system for disentangling the influence of specific environmental parameters on genotype/phenotype and gene by environment interactions. This work reviews the biology, evolution, and ecology of an emerging model organism, the free-living nematode &lt;i&gt;Plectus murrayi&lt;/i&gt;, in a model ecosystem, the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDVs) of Antarctica. In the MDVs, habitat suitability, including nutrient availability, has been shown to drive organismal (nematode) life history evolution, including growth and reproduction, primarily by way of changes in the expression of developmental genes. Changes in growth rates and reproductive schedules are accomplished primarily through alterations of nuclear rRNA gene copy number. The predicted and observed responses to natural experiments have been replicated in the laboratory, providing a synthesis of field observations and experimental evolution. Studying such natural model systems as this could fill several persistent knowledge gaps in our understanding of how genetic variation, genomic architecture, and gene regulation drive the genotype-phenotype paradigm, and the consequent effects of these drivers on ecosystem structure and functioning.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Roth-Monzón, Andrea J.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Aanderud, Zachary T.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adams, Byron J.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Phagotrophic protists and their associates: Evidence for preferential grazing in an abiotically driven soil ecosystem</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Microorganisms</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctica</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">co-occurrence networks</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McMurdo Dry Valleys</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rhogostoma sp.</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sandona sp.</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soil food webs</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">variation partitioning</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/2021</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/8/1555</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">9</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1555</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;The complex relationship between ecosystem function and soil food web structure is governed by species interactions, many of which remain unmapped. Phagotrophic protists structure soil food webs by grazing the microbiome, yet their involvement in intraguild competition, susceptibility to predator diversity, and grazing preferences are only vaguely known. These species-dependent interactions are contextualized by adjacent biotic and abiotic processes, and thus obfuscated by typically high soil biodiversity. Such questions may be investigated in the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica because the physical environment strongly filters biodiversity and simplifies the influence of abiotic factors. To detect the potential interactions in the MDV, we analyzed the co-occurrence among shotgun metagenome sequences for associations suggestive of intraguild competition, predation, and preferential grazing. In order to control for confounding abiotic drivers, we tested co-occurrence patterns against various climatic and edaphic factors. Non-random co-occurrence between phagotrophic protists and other soil fauna was biotically driven, but we found no support for competition or predation. However, protists predominately associated with Proteobacteria and avoided Actinobacteria, suggesting grazing preferences were modulated by bacterial cell-wall structure and growth rate. Our study provides a critical starting-point for mapping protist interactions in native soils and highlights key trends for future targeted molecular and culture-based approaches.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Phagotrophic protists (protozoa) in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems: Diversity, distribution, ecology, and best research practices</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Polar Biology</style></secondary-title><short-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Polar Biol</style></short-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">abiotic drivers of protist communities</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctic protozoa</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Corythion dubium</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">phagotrophic soil protists</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">protist diversity</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2021</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/2021</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00300-021-02896-3</style></url></web-urls></urls><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">44</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">1467-1484</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Phagotrophic protists (formerly protozoa) are a highly diverse, polyphyletic grouping of generally unicellular, heterotrophic eukaryotes that are key regulators of the soil microbiome. The biodiversity and ecology of soil phagotrophic protists are still largely uncharacterized, especially in the Antarctic, which possesses some of the harshest terrestrial environments known and potentially many physiologically unique and scientifically interesting species. Antarctic soil systems are also highly limited in terms of moisture, temperature, and carbon, and the resulting reduced biological complexity can facilitate fine-tuned investigation of the drivers and functioning of microbial communities. To facilitate and encourage future research into protist biodiversity and ecology, especially in context of the broader functioning of Antarctic terrestrial communities, I review the biodiversity, distribution, and ecology of Antarctic soil phagotrophic protists. Biodiversity appears to be highly structured by region and taxonomic group, with the Antarctic Peninsula having the highest taxonomic diversity and ciliates (Ciliophora) being the most diverse taxonomic group. However, richness estimates are likely skewed by disproportionate sampling (over half of the studies are from the peninsula), habitat type bias (predominately moss-associated soils), investigator bias (toward ciliates and the testate amoeba morphogroup), and methodological approach (toward cultivation and morphological identification). To remedy these biases, a standardized methodology using both morphological and molecular identification and increased emphasis on microflagellate and naked amoeba morphogroups is needed. Additionally, future research should transition away from biodiversity survey studies to dedicated ecological studies that emphasize the function, ecophysiology, endemicity, dispersal, and impact of abiotic drivers beyond moisture and temperature.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8</style></issue></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geisen, Stefan</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Byron Adams</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Shotgun metagenomics reveal a diverse assemblage of protists in a model Antarctic soil ecosystem</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Environmental Microbiology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctica</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">extremophiles</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">functional groups</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">metagenomics</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">protozoa</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">soil microbiology</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2020</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">08/2020</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1462-2920.15198</style></url></web-urls></urls><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;The soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) of Antarctica are established models for understanding fundamental processes in soil ecosystem functioning (e.g. ecological tipping points, community structuring, and nutrient cycling) because the extreme physical environment drastically reduces biodiversity and ecological complexity. Understanding the functioning of MDV soils requires in‐depth knowledge of the diversity of MDV soil species. Protists, which contribute significantly to soil ecosystem functioning worldwide, remain poorly characterized in the MDV. To better assess the diversity of MDV protists, we performed shotgun metagenomics on 18 sites representing a variety of landscape features and edaphic variables. Our results show MDV soil protists are diverse at both the genus (155 of 281 eukaryote genera) and family (120) levels, but comprise only 6% of eukaryotic reads. Protists are structured by moisture, total N, and distance from the local coast, and possess limited richness in arid (&amp;lt;5% moisture) and at high elevation sites, known drivers of communities in the MDV. High relative diversity and broad distribution of protists in our study promotes these organisms as key members of MDV soil microbiomes and the MDV as a useful system for understanding the contribution of soil protists to the structure of soil microbiomes.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>32</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author></authors><secondary-authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adams, Byron J.</style></author></secondary-authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Heterotrophic protists as useful models for studying microbial food webs in a model soil ecosystem and the universality of complex unicellular life</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Department of Biology</style></secondary-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">heterotrophic soil protists</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">key evolutionary innovations</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">life on Mars</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">McMurdo Dry Valleys</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">network analysis</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">shotgun metagenomics</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">universal complex unicellular life</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2019</style></year></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.proquest.com/docview/2310631977</style></url></web-urls></urls><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Brigham Young University</style></publisher><pub-location><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Provo, UT</style></pub-location><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">PhD</style></volume><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Heterotrophic protists, consisting largely of the Cercozoa, Amoebozoa, Ciliophora, Discoba and some Stramenopiles, are a poorly characterized component of life on Earth. They play an important ecological role in soil communities and provide key insights into the nature of one of life&amp;rsquo;s most enigmatic evolutionary transitions: the development of the complex unicell. Soil ecosystems are crucial to the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles (e.g. carbon and nitrogen) but are at risk of drastic change from anthropogenic climate change. Heterotrophic protists are the primary regulators of bacterial diversity in soils and as such play integral roles in biogeochemical cycling, nutrient mobilization, and trophic cascades in food webs under stress. Understanding the nature of these changes requires examining the rates, diversity, and resiliency of interactions that occur between soil organisms. However, soils are the most taxonomically diverse ecosystems on Earth and disentangling the complexities of dynamic and varied biotic interactions in them requires a unique model system. The McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica, one of the harshest terrestrial environments on Earth, serve as a model soil ecosystem owing to their highly reduced biological diversity. Exploring the functioning of heterotrophic protists in these valleys provides a way to test the applicability of this model system to other soil food webs. However, very little is known about their taxonomic diversity, which is a strong predictor of function. Therefore, I reviewed the Antarctic literature to compile a checklist of all known terrestrial heterotrophic protists in Antarctica. I found significant geographical, methodological, and taxonomic biases and outlined how to address these in future research programs. I also conducted a molecular survey of whole soil communities using 18 shotgun metagenomes representing major landscape features of the McMurdo Dry Valleys. The results revealed the dominance of Cercozoa and point to an Antarctic heterotrophic protist soil community that is taxonomically diverse and reflects the structure and composition of communities at lower latitudes. To investigate whether biotic interactions or abiotic factors were a larger driver for Antarctic heterotrophic protists, I conducted variation partitioning using environmental data (e.g. moisture, pH and electrical conductivity). Biotic variables were more significant and accounted for more of the variation than environmental variables. Taken together, it is clear that heterotrophic protists play key ecological roles in this ecosystem. Deeper insights into the ecology of these organisms in the McMurdo Dry Valleys also have implications for the search for complex unicellular life in our universe. I discuss the theoretical underpinnings of searching for these forms of life outside of Earth, conclude that they are likely to occur, and postulate how future missions could practically search for complex unicells.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">doctoral</style></work-type></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Thompson, Andrew R.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Powell, Gareth S.</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Byron Adams</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Provisional checklist of terrestrial heterotrophic protists from Antarctica</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctic Science</style></secondary-title><short-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Antarctic Science</style></short-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2019</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">11/2019</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/provisional-checklist-of-terrestrial-heterotrophic-protists-from-antarctica/DC08D89ABDC5AF2CC83E38B1C6F1F78C</style></url></web-urls></urls><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;Heterotrophic soil protists encompass lineages that are both evolutionarily ancient and highly diverse, providing an untapped wealth of scientific insight. Yet the diversity of free-living heterotrophic terrestrial protists is still largely unknown. To contribute to our understanding of this diversity, we present a checklist of heterotrophic protists currently reported from terrestrial Antarctica, for which no comprehensive evaluation currently exists. As a polar continent, Antarctica is especially susceptible to rising temperatures caused by anthropogenic climate change. Establishing a baseline for future conservation efforts of Antarctic protists is therefore important. We performed a literature search and found 236 taxa identified to species and an additional 303 taxa identified to higher taxonomic levels in 54 studies spanning over 100 years of research. Isolated by distance, climate and the circumpolar vortex, Antarctica is the most extreme continent on Earth: it is not unreasonable to think that it may host physiologically and evolutionarily unique species of protists, yet currently most species discovered in Antarctica are considered cosmopolitan. Additional sampling of the more extreme intra-continental zones will probably result in the discovery of more novel and unique taxa.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract></record></records></xml>