Ciliates are core components of the structure of and function of aquatic microbial food webs.
They play an essential role in the energy flow and material circulation within aquatic …

Abstract Model organisms are widely used in research as accessible and convenient
systems to study a particular area or question in biology. Traditionally only a handful of …

Ciliates are key components of aquatic ecosystems, significantly contributing to the
decomposition of organic matter and energy transfer to higher trophic levels. They are …

Ploidy and size phenomena are observed to be correlated across several biological scales,
from subcellular to organismal. Two kinds of ploidy change can affect plants. Whole-genome …

Complex behavior is associated with animals with nervous systems, but decision-making
and learning also occur in non-neural organisms [1], including singly nucleated cells [2–5] …

The biophysical relationships between sensors and actuators,,,–have been fundamental to
the development of complex life forms. Swimming organisms generate abundant flows that …

The enormous sequence heterogeneity of telomerase RNA (TR) subunits has thus far
complicated their characterization in a wider phylogenetic range. Our recent finding that land …

Small subunit ribosomal DNA (SSU rDNA) is widely used for phylogenetic inference,
barcoding and other taxonomy-based analyses. Recent studies indicate that SSU rDNA of …

The giant single-celled eukaryote, Spirostomum, exhibits one of the fastest movements in
the biological world. This ultrafast contraction is dependent on Ca2+ rather than ATP and …

The triplet nature of the genetic code is considered a universal feature of known organisms.
However, frequent stop codons at internal mRNA positions in Euplotes ciliates ultimately …