Abstracts - Deutsche Zoologische Gesellschaft

96 Zoological Systematics SymposiumO ZS.7 (Sa) - ENLearning from Linnaeus: How to standardize morphological descriptions on the basisof a modern general structure conceptLars VogtFreie Universität BerlinOver 250 years ago Linnaeus developed his ‘sexual system’ for the classification of plants, which atits time provided a highly pragmatic and standardized way in which plants could be described on thebasis of fructification characters for classificatory purposes. The ‘sexual system’ represents what Icall a structure concept, which guides the generation of descriptions of organisms, with an emphasison objectivity (i.e. inter-subjective testability, independence of the individual observer). A structureconcept represents a set of perceptual categories that provide questions that have to be answeredfor generating maximally objective descriptions. Each answer provides a value to its correspondingcategory, with the result that a description is composed of a set categories and their correspondingvalues – just like Linnaeus’ fructification characters. Linnaeus’ structure concept was specializedfor classification and optimized for the practical demands of the taxonomists in his time. Structureconcepts are thus context dependent. In order to standardize morphological descriptions, a generalstructure concept has to be developed. This requires the standardization of categories and their possiblevalues and the standardization of morphological terminology. The development of bio-ontologiesprovides the required basis for developing such a general structure concept. This study has beensupported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG (VO 1244/3-2).O ZS.8 (Sa) - ENDevelopment of a specific primer set for the detection of the genus Paramecium andthe Paramecium aureliaMadlen Häntzsch, Thomas U. Berendonk, Martin Schlegel, Detlef BernhardInstitut für Biologie II, Universität LeipzigThe genus Paramecium is one of the best-known and intensively studied taxa within the Ciliophora.Due to their cosmopolitan distribution, their importance for water purification and their easy cultivation,members of the genus Paramecium have become important model organisms. Up to now 17morphospecies are described, which possess unique morphological characteristics like the shape andsize of the cell or the number and shape of the nuclei. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to determinelive specimens, especially for non-specialists. For this reason molecular methods provide an additionalopportunity for species determination. Therefore, we developed a set of primers which enablethe unambiguous and easy assignment of ciliates belonging to the genus Paramecium. In addition,we present results on the development of hierarchic multiplex primers, which allow the simultaneousdetection of representatives belonging to the genus Paramecium as well as to the Parameciumaurelia –complex. Furthermore, we investigated the P. aurelia – complex in more detail. This speciescomplex consists of 15 different species which show almost identical morphological characteristics.We sequenced about 2200bp including the whole SSU rDNA and partial ITS- regions of 13species within the P. aurelia – complex, because only from two species SSU rDNA sequence dataare available in Genbank. Based on these new sequences, further species-specific primers will bedeveloped to discriminate these morphologically indistinguishable species.