Reconsideration of the phylogenetic positions of five peritrich genera, Vorticella, Pseudovorticella, Zoothamnopsis, Zoothamnium, and Epicarchesium (Ciliophora, Peritrichia, Sessilida), based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences.

In order to re-evaluate the systematics of sessilid peritrich ciliates, small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene sequences were determined for 12 species belonging to five genera: Vorticella, Pseudovorticella, Epicarchesium, Zoothamnium, and Zoothamnopsis. Phylogenetic trees were deduced using Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood methods. The phylogenetic analyses suggest that (1) sessilids which have stalks with continuous myonemes that contract in a zig-zag fashion form a separate clade from those which have stalks that contract independently and in a spiral fashion, supporting the separation of the family Zoothamniidae from the family Vorticellidae and (2) Epicarchesium and Pseudovorticella, both of which have reticulate silverline systems, are more closely related to each other than to other vorticellids, suggesting that differences in the silverline system (i.e. transverse vs. reticulate) may be the result of genuine evolutionary divergence among sessilid peritrichs. However, the newly sequenced Zoothamnopsis sinica, which has a reticulate silverline pattern, nests within the unresolved Zoothamnium species that have transverse silverline patterns. Thus, there were at least two evolutions of the reticulate silverline pattern character state from a plesiomorphic transverse state in the peritrichid ciliates. The molecular work demonstrates the genus Zoothamnium to be paraphyletic in relation to morphological studies, and suggests that Astylozoon, Opisthonecta, and Vorticella microstoma possibly share a SSU rRNA secondary structure in the helix E10-1 region.