TITLE :

Morphology and Morphogenetic description of a new soil ciliate species of Notohymenaindica n. sp. from Rithala waste-water treatment plant (WWTP), Delhi, India

AUTHORS :

Ilmas Naqvi, Ragesh P.R., Satish Ganta and Hareramadas, B

ABSTRACT :

Ciliates are single celled eukaryotes which have been discovered from a wide variety of habitats. Their free-living forms are present in aquatic as well as terrestrial habitats. A large number of ciliates have also been recorded from wastewater treatment plants throughout the world. In WWTP these species are found from the final effluent as well as from the sewage sludge. In the present study, an Indian population of Notohymena gangwonensis was isolated from the sewage sludge samples collected from Rithala wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), Delhi, India, and is described on the basis of its morphology and morphogenesis. Morphological features of N. gangwonensis are as follows: flexible body; anterior lanceolate and posterior rounded end; body size about 51 x 15 μm in protargol preparations with body length:width ratio of around 3.5:1; large and deep buccal cavity; undulating membranes in Notohymena pattern; adoral zone with 19 (average) adoral membranelles; 18 frontal- ventral-transverse (FVT) cirri; one right and one left marginal row with about 14 and 13 cirri respectively; 6 dorsal rows consisting of 4 dorsal kineties (DKs) and two dorso-marginals (DMs), the fourth row of dorsal kineties (DK4) being unique as it is ‘curved’, and occupies 2/3rd of the cell; 3 caudal cirri; two macronuclear nodules; 1–4 micronuclei. The morphogenetic study showed de novo origin of oral primordium between left marginal cirral row and post oral ventral cirri, and involvement of five parental cirri (three frontals and two ventrals) in the formation of streaks I–VI for the proter and opisthe. Their morphological and morphogenetic characters were compared with the other members of the genus and it confirmed that the present species is Notohymena gangwonensis belonging to the subfamily Oxytrichinae, which is a new record from the Indian subcontinent. The morphogenesis of N. gangwonensis has also been described here for the first time.

DOI :

https://doi.org/10.52253/vjta.2023.v04i02.05

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