Paramylon Dotaz Zobrazit nápovědu
Euglenoid flagellates are mainly fresh water protists growing in highly diverse environments making them well-suited for a multiplicity of biotechnology applications. Phototrophic euglenids possesses complex chloroplasts of green algal origin bounded by three membranes. Euglena nuclear and plastid genome organization, gene structure and gene expression are distinctly different from other organisms. Our observations on the model organism Euglena gracilis indicate that transcription of both the plastid and nuclear genome is insensitive to environmental changes and that gene expression is regulated mainly at the post-transcriptional level. Euglena plastids have been proposed as a site for the production of proteins and value added metabolites of biotechnological interest. Euglena has been shown to be a suitable protist species to be used for production of several compounds that are used in the production of cosmeceuticals and nutraceuticals, such as α-tocopherol, wax esters, polyunsaturated fatty acids, biotin and tyrosine. The storage polysaccharide, paramylon, has immunostimulatory properties and has shown a promise for biomaterials production. Euglena biomass can be used as a nutritional supplement in aquaculture and in animal feed. Diverse applications of Euglena in environmental biotechnology include ecotoxicological risk assessment, heavy metal bioremediation, bioremediation of industrial wastewater and contaminated water.
- MeSH
- biodegradace MeSH
- biologické modely MeSH
- biotechnologie MeSH
- buněčné jádro genetika MeSH
- chloroplasty genetika MeSH
- Euglena genetika růst a vývoj metabolismus MeSH
- fylogeneze MeSH
- genom protozoální * MeSH
- kosmeceutika metabolismus MeSH
- potravní doplňky MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
- přehledy MeSH
Photosynthetic euglenids acquired chloroplasts by secondary endosymbiosis, which resulted in changes to their mode of nutrition and affected the evolution of their morphological characters. Mapping morphological characters onto a reliable molecular tree could elucidate major trends of those changes. We analyzed nucleotide sequence data from regions of three nuclear-encoded genes (nSSU, nLSU, hsp90), one chloroplast-encoded gene (cpSSU) and one nuclear-encoded chloroplast gene (psbO) to estimate phylogenetic relationships among 59 photosynthetic euglenid species. Our results were consistent with previous works; most genera were monophyletic, except for the polyphyletic genus Euglena, and the paraphyletic genus Phacus. We also analyzed character evolution in photosynthetic euglenids using our phylogenetic tree and eight morphological traits commonly used for generic and species diagnoses, including: characters corresponding to well-defined clades, apomorphies like presence of lorica and mucilaginous stalks, and homoplastic characters like rigid cells and presence of large paramylon grains. This research indicated that pyrenoids were lost twice during the evolution of phototrophic euglenids, and that mucocysts, which only occur in the genus Euglena, evolved independently at least twice. In contrast, the evolution of cell shape and chloroplast morphology was difficult to elucidate, and could not be unambiguously reconstructed in our analyses.
- MeSH
- Euglenida klasifikace cytologie genetika MeSH
- fotosystém II - proteinový komplex genetika MeSH
- fylogeneze * MeSH
- molekulární evoluce * MeSH
- proteiny tepelného šoku HSP90 genetika MeSH
- protozoální geny * MeSH
- RNA ribozomální 18S genetika MeSH
- RNA ribozomální genetika MeSH
- sekvenční analýza DNA MeSH
- výpočetní biologie MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Polarization microscopy has been used to study the internal structures of microbial cells and in terms of the birefringence of these structures and its possible relation to the cell function and composition. Cyanobacteria of the genus Phormidium were found to contain no anisotropic structures, while other microorganisms were found to contain them, albeit to a different extent, size, and number. The flagellate Euglena was found to contain two large anisotropic bodies, whereas the flagellate of the genus Phacus belonging to the same systematic group Euglenales was observed to contain only one large anisotropic body (storage substances--paramylon). On the other hand, green algae of the genus Scenedesmus, whose cells form four--celled coenobia, contained clusters of small anisotropic granules composed also of storage substances (volutin). Minute anisotropic granules (storage substances) in two smaller clusters were found also in diatoms of the genus Navicula, whereas the green alga of the genus Mougeotia was revealed to contain, in addition to minute anisotropic granules (storage substances) occurring in low numbers in the cytoplasm, also a strongly birefringent cell wall (shape birefringence). Cells of the amoeba of the genus Naegleria and heliozoans of the genus Heterophrys were observed to contain only isolated tiny anisotropic granules (storage substances).
