Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding

<p>We investigated soil protist communities across five sites representing two characteristic dryland habitats in Qatar: rawdha and sabkha. Altogether, 100 samples were collected during a single field campaign; DNA was subsequently extracted, and the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene was amplifie...

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Main Author: Carla S.R. Huber (22437685) (author)
Other Authors: Luciano K. Huber (22437688) (author), Sara H. Al-Hadidi (17821196) (author), Talaat Ahmed (11482993) (author), Sakeenah Adenan (22437691) (author), Jane Oja (344117) (author), Amjad M. Shraim (14156922) (author), Anna Ostapenko Alatalo (22437694) (author), Mohammed Alsafran (11482987) (author), Leho Tedersoo (106220) (author), Dana A. Abumaali (17821193) (author), Laura R.P. Utz (22437697) (author), Juha M. Alatalo (2931234) (author)
Published: 2025
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author Carla S.R. Huber (22437685)
author2 Luciano K. Huber (22437688)
Sara H. Al-Hadidi (17821196)
Talaat Ahmed (11482993)
Sakeenah Adenan (22437691)
Jane Oja (344117)
Amjad M. Shraim (14156922)
Anna Ostapenko Alatalo (22437694)
Mohammed Alsafran (11482987)
Leho Tedersoo (106220)
Dana A. Abumaali (17821193)
Laura R.P. Utz (22437697)
Juha M. Alatalo (2931234)
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author_facet Carla S.R. Huber (22437685)
Luciano K. Huber (22437688)
Sara H. Al-Hadidi (17821196)
Talaat Ahmed (11482993)
Sakeenah Adenan (22437691)
Jane Oja (344117)
Amjad M. Shraim (14156922)
Anna Ostapenko Alatalo (22437694)
Mohammed Alsafran (11482987)
Leho Tedersoo (106220)
Dana A. Abumaali (17821193)
Laura R.P. Utz (22437697)
Juha M. Alatalo (2931234)
author_role author
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Carla S.R. Huber (22437685)
Luciano K. Huber (22437688)
Sara H. Al-Hadidi (17821196)
Talaat Ahmed (11482993)
Sakeenah Adenan (22437691)
Jane Oja (344117)
Amjad M. Shraim (14156922)
Anna Ostapenko Alatalo (22437694)
Mohammed Alsafran (11482987)
Leho Tedersoo (106220)
Dana A. Abumaali (17821193)
Laura R.P. Utz (22437697)
Juha M. Alatalo (2931234)
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025-09-29T15:00:00Z
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv 10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Diversity_of_protists_in_dryland_habitats_of_Qatar_revealed_by_environmental_metabarcoding/30365173
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv CC BY 4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Biological sciences
Microbiology
Environmental sciences
Soil sciences
Deserte
DNA
Rawdha
Sabkha
Trophic groups
TSAR clade
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv Text
Journal contribution
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
text
contribution to journal
description <p>We investigated soil protist communities across five sites representing two characteristic dryland habitats in Qatar: rawdha and sabkha. Altogether, 100 samples were collected during a single field campaign; DNA was subsequently extracted, and the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene was amplified. We obtained 112,529 high-quality sequences, taxonomically representing 1,524 TSAR (Telonemia, Stramenopila, Alveolata, Rhizaria) amplicon sequence variants. This approach enabled detection of diverse eukaryotic lineages and facilitated assessment of their diversity and relative abundance. Protist diversity differed significantly between habitats and among samples, while richness varied significantly between habitats. Across all samples, 170 genera were identified, of which 52 were shared across all sites. Sabkha exhibited the highest number of exclusive genera (22), nearly three times the number found in any individual rawdha site. The clade Alveolata accounted for 50 % or more of overall genus richness in most samples. Among ciliates, the classes Spirotrichea and Colpodea were the most abundant at the time of sampling. Functional analysis revealed consumers as the dominant trophic group. This study advances our understanding of microbial life in extremely hot environments by uniquely comparing two proximate terrestrial habitats that, despite similar climatic conditions, exhibit distinct edaphic and physicochemical characteristics.</p><h2>Other Information</h2> <p> Published in: European Journal of Protistology<br> License: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168</a></p>
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
id Manara2_58e8cd538bc936229066bf37712f705e
identifier_str_mv 10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168
network_acronym_str Manara2
network_name_str Manara2
oai_identifier_str oai:figshare.com:article/30365173
publishDate 2025
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rights_invalid_str_mv CC BY 4.0
spelling Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcodingCarla S.R. Huber (22437685)Luciano K. Huber (22437688)Sara H. Al-Hadidi (17821196)Talaat Ahmed (11482993)Sakeenah Adenan (22437691)Jane Oja (344117)Amjad M. Shraim (14156922)Anna Ostapenko Alatalo (22437694)Mohammed Alsafran (11482987)Leho Tedersoo (106220)Dana A. Abumaali (17821193)Laura R.P. Utz (22437697)Juha M. Alatalo (2931234)Biological sciencesMicrobiologyEnvironmental sciencesSoil sciencesDeserteDNARawdhaSabkhaTrophic groupsTSAR clade<p>We investigated soil protist communities across five sites representing two characteristic dryland habitats in Qatar: rawdha and sabkha. Altogether, 100 samples were collected during a single field campaign; DNA was subsequently extracted, and the V4 region of the 18S rRNA gene was amplified. We obtained 112,529 high-quality sequences, taxonomically representing 1,524 TSAR (Telonemia, Stramenopila, Alveolata, Rhizaria) amplicon sequence variants. This approach enabled detection of diverse eukaryotic lineages and facilitated assessment of their diversity and relative abundance. Protist diversity differed significantly between habitats and among samples, while richness varied significantly between habitats. Across all samples, 170 genera were identified, of which 52 were shared across all sites. Sabkha exhibited the highest number of exclusive genera (22), nearly three times the number found in any individual rawdha site. The clade Alveolata accounted for 50 % or more of overall genus richness in most samples. Among ciliates, the classes Spirotrichea and Colpodea were the most abundant at the time of sampling. Functional analysis revealed consumers as the dominant trophic group. This study advances our understanding of microbial life in extremely hot environments by uniquely comparing two proximate terrestrial habitats that, despite similar climatic conditions, exhibit distinct edaphic and physicochemical characteristics.</p><h2>Other Information</h2> <p> Published in: European Journal of Protistology<br> License: <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</a><br>See article on publisher's website: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168" target="_blank">https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168</a></p>2025-09-29T15:00:00ZTextJournal contributioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersiontextcontribution to journal10.1016/j.ejop.2025.126168https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Diversity_of_protists_in_dryland_habitats_of_Qatar_revealed_by_environmental_metabarcoding/30365173CC BY 4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:figshare.com:article/303651732025-09-29T15:00:00Z
spellingShingle Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
Carla S.R. Huber (22437685)
Biological sciences
Microbiology
Environmental sciences
Soil sciences
Deserte
DNA
Rawdha
Sabkha
Trophic groups
TSAR clade
status_str publishedVersion
title Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
title_full Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
title_fullStr Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
title_full_unstemmed Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
title_short Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
title_sort Diversity of protists in dryland habitats of Qatar revealed by environmental metabarcoding
topic Biological sciences
Microbiology
Environmental sciences
Soil sciences
Deserte
DNA
Rawdha
Sabkha
Trophic groups
TSAR clade