Holomastigotes is a protist genus (Parabasalia: Spirotrichonymphea) that resides in the hindguts of "lower" termites. It can be distinguished from other parabasalids by spiral flagellar bands that run along the entire length of the cell, an anterior nucleus, a reduced or absent axostyle, the presence of spherical vesicles inside the cells, and the absence of ingested wood particles. Eight species have been described based on their morphology so far, although no molecular data were available prior to this study. We determined the 18S rRNA gene sequences of Holomastigotes from the hindguts of Hodotermopsis sjostedti, Reticulitermes flavipes, Reticulitermes lucifugus, and Reticulitermes tibialis. Phylogenetic analyses placed all sequences in an exclusive and well-supported clade with the type species, Holomastigotes elongatum from R. lucifugus. However, the phylogenetic position of Holomastigotes within the Spirotrichonymphea was not resolved. We describe two new species, Holomastigotes flavipes n. sp. and Holomastigotes tibialis n. sp., inhabiting the hindguts of R. flavipes and R. tibialis, respectively.

• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Isoptera parasitology   MeSH
• Parabasalidea classification   cytology   genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Protozoan analysis   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S analysis   MeSH
• Symbiosis MeSH
• Digestive System parasitology   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

The guts of lower termites are inhabited by host-specific consortia of cellulose-digesting flagellate protists. In this first investigation of the symbionts of the family Serritermitidae, we found that Glossotermes oculatus and Serritermes serrifer each harbor similar parabasalid morphotypes: large Pseudotrichonympha-like cells, medium-sized Leptospironympha-like cells with spiraled bands of flagella, and small Hexamastix-like cells; oxymonadid flagellates were absent. Despite their morphological resemblance to Pseudotrichonympha and Leptospironympha, a SSU rRNA-based phylogenetic analysis identified the two larger, trichonymphid flagellates as deep-branching sister groups of Teranymphidae, with Leptospironympha sp. (the only spirotrichosomid with sequence data) in a moderately supported basal position. Only the Hexamastix-like flagellates are closely related to trichomonadid flagellates from Rhinotermitidae. The presence of two deep-branching lineages of trichonymphid flagellates in Serritermitidae and the absence of all taxa characteristic of the ancestral rhinotermitids underscores that the flagellate assemblages in the hindguts of lower termites were shaped not only by a progressive loss of flagellates during vertical inheritance but also by occasional transfaunation events, where flagellates were transferred horizontally between members of different termite families. In addition to the molecular phylogenetic analyses, we present a detailed morphological characterization of the new spirotrichosomid genus Heliconympha using light and electron microscopy.

• MeSH
• Isoptera parasitology   MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Scanning MeSH
• Parabasalidea classification   cytology   genetics   ultrastructure   MeSH
• RNA, Protozoan analysis   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal analysis   MeSH
• Gastrointestinal Microbiome * MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Transmission MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

Pseudotrichonympha is a large and structurally complex genus of parabasalian protists that play a key role in the digestion of lignocellulose in the termite hindgut. Like many termite symbionts, it has a conspicuous body plan that makes genus-level identification relatively easy, but species-level diversity of Pseudotrichonympha is understudied. Molecular surveys have suggested the diversity is much greater than the current number of described species, and that many "species" described in multiple hosts are in fact different, but gene sequences from formally described species remain a rarity. Here we describe three new species from Coptotermes and Prorhinotermes hosts, including small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) sequences from single cells. Based on host identification by morphology and DNA barcoding, as well as the morphology and phylogenetic position of each symbiont, all three represent new Pseudotrichonympha species: P. leei, P. lifesoni, and P. pearti. Pseudotrichonympha leei and P. lifesoni, both from Coptotermes, are closely related to other Coptotermes symbionts including the type species, P. hertwigi. Pseudotrichonympha pearti is the outlier of the trio, more distantly related to P. leei and P. lifesoni than they are to one another, and contains unique features, including an unusual rotating intracellular structure of unknown function.

• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Isoptera parasitology   MeSH
• Microscopy MeSH
• Parabasalidea classification   cytology   physiology   MeSH
• Genes, Protozoan MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal genetics   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

The genus HypotrichomonasLee, 1960 belongs to the small parabasalian class Hypotrichomonadea. Although five Hypotrichomonas species have been described from intestines of lizards and birds, some descriptions were brief and incomplete. Only the type species H. acosta has been observed repeatedly. We have established 23 strains of the genus Hypotrichomonas in culture. Phylogenetic and morphological analyses showed that these isolates represent eight distinct species, six of which are novel. Three of the species showed unusual morphology, such as a reduced undulating membrane, absence of the free part of the recurrent flagellum or a costa-like fiber. Our strains were isolated from a wide range of hosts including cockroaches, frogs, tortoises, lizards, snakes, marsupials, pigs, rodents, and primates. The genus Hypotrichomonas thus contains a relatively large number of species that differ in morphology, phylogenetic position and host range. It is remarkable that such diversity of hypotrichomonads was previously undetected, although a number of studies dealt with intestinal trichomonads of vertebrates and invertebrates. Our results indicate that the diversity of the genus Hypotrichomonas as well as of the whole Parabasalia is still only poorly understood, and the lineages described so far likely represent only a small fraction of the true diversity of parabasalids.

• MeSH
• Biodiversity MeSH
• Species Specificity MeSH
• Phylogeny * MeSH
• Genetic Variation * MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Parabasalidea classification   cytology   genetics   MeSH
• DNA, Protozoan genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S genetics   MeSH
• Animals MeSH
• Check Tag
• Animals MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH

We propose a new classification of Parabasalia which is congruent with both ultrastructural and molecular-phylogenetic studies. We identify six main parabasalid lineages and give them the rank of class: Hypotrichomonadea, Trichomonadea, Tritrichomonadea, Cristamonadea, Trichonymphea, and Spirotrichonymphea. Trichomonadea is characterized by a single mastigont and by the absence of both a comb-like structure and an infrakinetosomal body. Most representatives also possess a lamelliform undulating membrane. Trichomonadea is divided into two monophyletic orders, Trichomonadida (family Trichomonadidae; with a B-type costa) and Honigbergiellida (families Honigbergiellidae, Hexamastigidae and Tricercomitidae; without a costa). The class Tritrichomonadea, with a single order Tritrichomonadida, is ancestrally characterized by a single mastigont with four flagella, and both a comb-like structure and an infrakinetosomal body. The morphologically most complex representatives (family Tritrichomonadidae) possess in addition a rail-type undulating membrane, an A-type costa, and a suprakinetosomal body. These last three characters are absent in families Monocercomonadidae and Simplicimonadidae. The remaining tritrichomonadids, Dientamoebidae, have undergone reductive evolution. Cristamonads (Cristamonadea) are morphologically derived from tritrichomonads. Because we are unable to determine morphologically homogenous monophyletic lineages within cristamonads, we classify all cristamonads into a single family, Lophomonadidae. Hypotrichomonadea, comprising the genera Trichomitus and Hypotrichomonas, resembles Tritrichomonadea by an A-type costa, and by the presence of a comb-like structure in the mastigont. However, they do not possess an infrakinetosomal body, and are not specifically related to Tritrichomonadea in molecular-phylogenetic analyses. Moreover, unlike Tritrichomonadea, Hypotrichomonadea possesses a lamelliform undulating membrane. The remaining parabasalids are of complex morphology and belong to the classes Trichonymphea and Spirotrichonymphea. A new parabasalid genus, Simplicimonas (Tritrichomonadea), and three new species, Tetratrichomonas undula, Hexamastix coercens and Simplicimonas similis, are described.

• MeSH
• Phylogeny MeSH
• Genes, rRNA MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal Spacer chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Microscopy MeSH
• Molecular Sequence Data MeSH
• Organelles ultrastructure   MeSH
• Parabasalidea classification   genetics   ultrastructure   MeSH
• DNA, Protozoan chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• Protozoan Proteins genetics   MeSH
• DNA, Ribosomal chemistry   genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Protozoan genetics   MeSH
• RNA, Ribosomal, 18S genetics   MeSH
• Sequence Analysis, DNA MeSH
• Cluster Analysis MeSH
• Microscopy, Electron, Transmission MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH