Origin of the foraminifera

Abstract

We report nuclear small-subunit rDNA sequences for two species of the benthic foraminifer Ammonia. Because of their abundance in present and past seas, the foraminifera are a very important group of organisms used in a wide range of geologic studies; however, the ancestry of this group was, until now, unknown. Difficulties in purifying foraminiferal DNA and avoiding PCR contamination led us to develop DNA.DNA in situ hybridization techniques to verify our sequence data. Phylogenetic analysis of verified foraminiferal DNA sequence indicates these taxa are a divergent, "alveolate" lineage, within the major eukaryotic radiation. Our findings cast doubt upon the assumption that all foraminifera are derived from an amoebalike ancestor. Cytological features and the DNA sequences presented herein suggest that the foraminifera were derived from a heterokaryotic flagellated marine protist, probably sometime in the later Proterozoic.