Oxymonads are a group of flagellates living as gut symbionts of insects or vertebrates. They have several unique features, one of them being the absence of mitochondria. Diversity of this group is seriously understudied, which is particularly true for small species from the family Polymastigidae. We isolated 34 strains of oxymonads with Polymastigidae-like morphology from 24 host species and unused cesspits and sequenced the SSU rRNA gene. Our strains formed two clades in the phylogenetic tree with Streblomastix strix branching between them. This topology was also supported by a three-gene phylogenetic analysis. Despite considerable genetic differences between the clades, light and electron microscopy revealed only subtle differences. The larger clade is considered genus Monocercomonoides and the isolates belonging here were classified into three new species (including the first potentially free-living species), two previously described species, and three unclassified lineages. The smaller clade, here described as Blattamonas gen. nov., consists of three newly described species. Concomitantly with the description of Blattamonas, we elevate the Monocercomonoides subgenus Brachymonas to the genus level. Our study shows that, despite their conserved morphology, the molecular diversity of Polymastigidae-like oxymonads is broad and represents a substantial part of the diversity of oxymonads.
Fornicata (Metamonada) is a group of Excavata living in low-oxygen environments and lacking conventional mitochondria. It includes free-living Carpediemonas-like organisms from marine habitats and predominantly parasitic/commensal retortamonads and diplomonads. Current modest knowledge of biodiversity of Fornicata limits our ability to draw a complete picture of the evolutionary history in this group. Here, we report the discovery of a novel fornicate, Iotanema spirale gen. nov. et sp. nov., obtained from fresh feces of the gecko Phelsuma madagascariensis. Our phylogenetic analyses of the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene demonstrate that I. spirale is closely related to the free-living, marine strain PCS and the Carpediemonas-like organism Hicanonectes teleskopos within Fornicata. Iotanema spirale exhibits several features uncommon to fornicates, such as a single flagellum, a highly reduced cytoskeletal system, and the lack of the excavate ventral groove, but shares these characters with the poorly known genus Caviomonas. Therefore, I. spirale is accommodated within the family Caviomonadidae, which represents the third known endobiotic lineage of Fornicata. This study improves our understanding of character evolution within Fornicata when placed within the molecular phylogenetic context.
- MeSH
- cytoskelet ultrastruktura MeSH
- Eukaryota klasifikace genetika ultrastruktura MeSH
- feces parazitologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- ještěři parazitologie MeSH
- molekulární evoluce MeSH
- ribozomální DNA genetika MeSH
- RNA ribozomální genetika MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA metody MeSH
- transmisní elektronová mikroskopie MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
The microtubular cytoskeleton of most single-celled eukaryotes radiates from an organizing center called the flagellar apparatus, which is essential for locomotion, feeding and reproduction. The structure of the flagellar apparatus tends to be conserved within diverse clades of eukaryotes, and modifications of this overall structure distinguish different clades from each other. Understanding the unity and diversity of the flagellar apparatus provides important insights into the evolutionary history of the eukaryotic cell. Diversification of the flagellar apparatus is particularly apparent during the multiple independent transitions to parasitic lifestyles from free-living ancestors. However, our understanding of these evolutionary transitions is hampered by the lack of detailed comparisons of the microtubular root systems in different lineages of parasitic microbial eukaryotes and those of their closest free-living relatives. Here we help to establish this comparative context by examining the unity and diversity of the flagellar apparatus in six major clades containing both free-living lineages and endobiotic (parasitic and symbiotic) microbial eukaryotes: stramenopiles (e.g., Phytophthora), fornicates (e.g., Giardia), parabasalids (e.g., Trichomonas), preaxostylids (e.g., Monocercomonoides), kinetoplastids (e.g., Trypanosoma), and apicomplexans (e.g., Plasmodium). These comparisons enabled us to address some broader patterns associated with the evolution of parasitism, including a general trend toward a more streamlined flagellar apparatus.
- MeSH
- biologická evoluce * MeSH
- cytoskelet metabolismus MeSH
- flagella metabolismus ultrastruktura MeSH
- lokomoce MeSH
- mikrotubuly metabolismus MeSH
- molekulární evoluce MeSH
- paraziti klasifikace fyziologie MeSH
- rozmnožování MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
Although environmental DNA surveys improve our understanding of biodiversity, interpretation of unidentified lineages is limited by the absence of associated morphological traits and living cultures. Unidentified lineages of marine stramenopiles are called "MAST clades". Twenty-five MAST clades have been recognized: MAST-1 through MAST-25; seven of these have been subsequently discarded because the sequences representing those clades were found to either (1) be chimeric or (2) affiliate within previously described taxonomic groups. Eighteen MAST clades remain without a cellular identity. Moreover, the discarded "MAST-13" has been used in different studies to refer to two different environmental sequence clades. After establishing four cultures representing two different species of heterotrophic stramenopiles and then characterizing their morphology and molecular phylogenetic positions, we determined that the two different species represented the two different MAST-13 clades: (1) a lorica-bearing Bicosoeca kenaiensis and (2) a microaerophilic flagellate previously named "Cafeteria marsupialis". Both species were previously described with only light microscopy; no cultures, ultrastructural data or DNA sequences were available from these species prior to this study. The molecular phylogenetic position of three different "C. marsupialis" isolates was not closely related to the type species of Cafeteria; therefore, we established a new genus for these isolates, Cantina gen. nov.
- MeSH
- flagella ultrastruktura MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- Heterokontophyta klasifikace cytologie genetika izolace a purifikace MeSH
- heterotrofní procesy MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- mořská voda MeSH
- ribozomální DNA genetika MeSH
- RNA ribozomální 18S genetika MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- zvířata MeSH
- Check Tag
- zvířata MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
BACKGROUND: Methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT) is a ubiquitous essential enzyme that, in eukaryotes, occurs in two relatively divergent paralogues: MAT and MATX. MATX has a punctate distribution across the tree of eukaryotes and, except for a few cases, is mutually exclusive with MAT. This phylogenetic pattern could have arisen by either differential loss of old paralogues or the spread of one of these paralogues by horizontal gene transfer. Our aim was to map the distribution of MAT/MATX genes within the Euglenida in order to more comprehensively characterize the evolutionary history of MATX. RESULTS: We generated 26 new sequences from 23 different lineages of euglenids and one prasinophyte alga Pyramimonas parkeae. MATX was present only in photoautotrophic euglenids. The mixotroph Rapaza viridis and the prasinophyte alga Pyramimonas parkeae, which harbors chloroplasts that are most closely related to the chloroplasts in photoautotrophic euglenids, both possessed only the MAT paralogue. We found both the MAT and MATX paralogues in two photoautotrophic species (Phacus orbicularis and Monomorphina pyrum). The significant conflict between eukaryotic phylogenies inferred from MATX and SSU rDNA data represents strong evidence that MATX paralogues have undergone horizontal gene transfer across the tree of eukaryotes. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that MATX entered the euglenid lineage in a single horizontal gene transfer event that took place after the secondary endosymbiotic origin of the euglenid chloroplast. The origin of the MATX paralogue is unclear, and it cannot be excluded that it arose by a gene duplication event before the most recent common ancestor of eukaryotes.
- MeSH
- Chlorophyta enzymologie genetika fyziologie MeSH
- chloroplasty genetika MeSH
- Euglenida klasifikace enzymologie genetika fyziologie MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- methioninadenosyltransferasa genetika MeSH
- molekulární evoluce * MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- přenos genů horizontální MeSH
- protozoální proteiny genetika MeSH
- symbióza MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
We isolated and cultivated 31 strains of free-living heterolobosean flagellates and amoebae from freshwater, brackish, and marine sediments with low concentrations of oxygen. Phylogenetic analysis of small subunit (SSU) rDNA showed that the strains constitute a single clade, the Psalteriomonadidae. According to combined light-microscopic morphology plus molecular phylogeny, our isolates belong to seven species and five genera, from which three species and two genera are new. In addition, previously described anaerobic species Percolomonas descissus and Vahlkampfia anaerobica are transferred to the Psalteriomonadidae. We identified a flagellate stage of Monopylocystis visvesvarai which was reported to produce only amoebae. Two environmental sequences previously obtained from acidic environments belong to the Psalteriomonadidae as well, suggesting a broad ecological importance of the Psalteriomonadidae. The ultrastructure of two psalteriomonadid species was also studied. Unifying features of the Psalteriomonadidae are acristate mitochondrial derivates, flagellates with a ventral groove and four flagella, and a harp-like structure in the mastigont. A new overall classification of the Psalteriomonadidae is proposed. Our data show that the Psalteriomonadidae are much more diverse than previously thought and constitute the main anaerobic lineage within the Heterolobosea.
- MeSH
- Eukaryota klasifikace cytologie genetika MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- geny rRNA MeSH
- mikrobiologie vody * MeSH
- mikroskopie MeSH
- molekulární sekvence - údaje MeSH
- protozoální DNA chemie genetika MeSH
- ribozomální DNA chemie genetika MeSH
- RNA protozoální genetika MeSH
- RNA ribozomální 18S genetika MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- shluková analýza MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
