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New publication: Five Groups in the Genus Allovahlkampfia and the Description of the New Species Vahlkampfia bulbosis n.sp.
Soils arguably host most biodiversity on the planet. Yet, much of this biodiversity, especially among microorganisms, remains unknown. We have started to add a bit of knowledge to this missing soil biodiversity by studying heterolobosean amoebae, a group of single-celled protists that feed on bacteria.
In this paper we describe several new isolates of seemingly very common species in the genus Allovahlkampfia, that we merge into five groups (it is hard to differentiate what a real species is in these asexual organisms). Additionally, we describe the new species Vahlkampfia bulbosis n.sp.
Studies like these are important to fill the gap of unknown diversity of soil life and to later on better understand the functioning of the many species in soil.