Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding

Some bromeliads form a compact rosette that accumulates detritus and water, known as phytotelma. The phytotelma is a lentic ephemeral aquatic environment that forms diverse communities with complex trophic levels. Pseudalcantarea grandis, a saxicolous plant, forms a phytotelma. To understand the im...

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Main Authors: José Alan Herrera-García, Mahinda Martinez, Pilar Zamora-Tavares, Ofelia Vargas, Luis Hernández-Sandoval
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México 2025-08-01
Series:Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
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Online Access:https://revista.ib.unam.mx/index.php/bio/article/view/5504
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author José Alan Herrera-García
Mahinda Martinez
Pilar Zamora-Tavares
Ofelia Vargas
Luis Hernández-Sandoval
author_facet José Alan Herrera-García
Mahinda Martinez
Pilar Zamora-Tavares
Ofelia Vargas
Luis Hernández-Sandoval
author_sort José Alan Herrera-García
collection DOAJ
description Some bromeliads form a compact rosette that accumulates detritus and water, known as phytotelma. The phytotelma is a lentic ephemeral aquatic environment that forms diverse communities with complex trophic levels. Pseudalcantarea grandis, a saxicolous plant, forms a phytotelma. To understand the importance of P. grandis as a eukaryotic diversity reservoir in arid zones, we collected water samples from 5 plants growing in a dry canyon in Zimapán, Hidalgo, Mexico. We analyzed them through metabarcoding of the ITS1 (Internal Transcribed Spacer) and the partial 5.8S gene. We used the Ion Torrent PGM platform for the sequencing, and the taxonomic assignation for the amplicons was made with BLAST in Genbank at NCBI. We found 26 phyla and 543 genera, 80% of which belonged to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota, Mucoromycota, and Zoopagomycota phyla. The remaining 20% was composed of 19 phyla belonging to other kingdoms. Photosynthetic organisms were represented by the phyla Bacillariophyta, Charophyta, Chlorophyta, and Ochrophyta. The vascular plants do not live in the tank but constitute the debris sustaining the large number of decomposers. The trophic levels in the tank were detritus, micro- and macro-decomposers, filter feeders, photosynthesizers, micro-predators, aquatic volume predators, surface predators, and parasites.
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spelling doaj-art-9cc13878c5d941f5aa1f1c45ae6533f42025-08-20T03:36:31ZengUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoRevista Mexicana de Biodiversidad1870-34532007-87062025-08-019610.22201/ib.20078706e.2025.96.5504Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcodingJosé Alan Herrera-García0Mahinda Martinez1Pilar Zamora-Tavares2Ofelia Vargas3Luis Hernández-Sandoval4Universidad Autónoma de QuerétaroUniversidad Autónoma de QuerétaroUniversidad de Guadalajara Universidad de GuadalajaraUniversidad Autónoma de Querétaro Some bromeliads form a compact rosette that accumulates detritus and water, known as phytotelma. The phytotelma is a lentic ephemeral aquatic environment that forms diverse communities with complex trophic levels. Pseudalcantarea grandis, a saxicolous plant, forms a phytotelma. To understand the importance of P. grandis as a eukaryotic diversity reservoir in arid zones, we collected water samples from 5 plants growing in a dry canyon in Zimapán, Hidalgo, Mexico. We analyzed them through metabarcoding of the ITS1 (Internal Transcribed Spacer) and the partial 5.8S gene. We used the Ion Torrent PGM platform for the sequencing, and the taxonomic assignation for the amplicons was made with BLAST in Genbank at NCBI. We found 26 phyla and 543 genera, 80% of which belonged to Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota Chytridiomycota, Glomeromycota, Mucoromycota, and Zoopagomycota phyla. The remaining 20% was composed of 19 phyla belonging to other kingdoms. Photosynthetic organisms were represented by the phyla Bacillariophyta, Charophyta, Chlorophyta, and Ochrophyta. The vascular plants do not live in the tank but constitute the debris sustaining the large number of decomposers. The trophic levels in the tank were detritus, micro- and macro-decomposers, filter feeders, photosynthesizers, micro-predators, aquatic volume predators, surface predators, and parasites. https://revista.ib.unam.mx/index.php/bio/article/view/5504AquaticEphemeralArid zone Phytotelma
spellingShingle José Alan Herrera-García
Mahinda Martinez
Pilar Zamora-Tavares
Ofelia Vargas
Luis Hernández-Sandoval
Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad
Aquatic
Ephemeral
Arid zone
Phytotelma
title Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
title_full Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
title_fullStr Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
title_full_unstemmed Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
title_short Eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad Pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by eDNA metabarcoding
title_sort eukaryotic diversity and trophic levels inside the tank bromeliad pseudalcantarea grandis in a dry area as detected by edna metabarcoding
topic Aquatic
Ephemeral
Arid zone
Phytotelma
url https://revista.ib.unam.mx/index.php/bio/article/view/5504
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