| Bikonts Temporal range: | |
|---|---|
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| A radiolarian | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| (unranked): | Bikonta Cavalier-Smith, 1993 |
| Subgroups | |
| Synonyms | |
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A bikont ("two flagella") is any of the eukaryotic organisms classified in the group Bikonta. Many single-celled and multi-celled organisms are members of the group, and these, as well as the presumed ancestor, have two flagella. [1]
Another shared trait of bikonts is the fusion of two genes into a single unit: the genes for thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) encode a single protein with two functions. [2]
The genes are separately translated in unikonts.
Some research suggests that a unikont (a eukaryotic cell with a single flagellum) was the ancestor of opisthokonts (Animals, Fungi, and related forms) and Amoebozoa, and a bikont was the ancestor of Archaeplastida (Plants and relatives), Excavata, Rhizaria, and Chromalveolata. Cavalier-Smith has suggested that Apusozoa, which are typically considered incertae sedis , are in fact bikonts.
Relationships within the bikonts are not yet clear. Cavalier-Smith has grouped the Excavata and Rhizaria into the Cabozoa and the Archaeplastida and Chromalveolata into the Corticata, but at least one other study has suggested that the Rhizaria and Chromalveolata form a clade. [3]
An alternative to the Unikont–Bikont division was suggested by Derelle et al. in 2015, [4] where they proposed the acronyms Opimoda–Diphoda respectively, as substitutes to the older terms. The name Diphoda is formed from the letters of DIscoba and diaPHOretickes (shown in capitals). [suggested singular forms are Opneme-Dipheme respectively]
A "classical" cladogram (data from 2012, 2015) is: [5] [6]
| Eukaryotes |
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However, a cladogram (data from 2015, 2016) with the root in Excavata is [4] [7] [8]
| Eukaryotes |
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The corticates correspond roughly to the bikonts. While Haptophyta, Cryptophyta, Glaucophyta, Rhodophyta, the SAR supergroup and viridiplantae are usually considered monophyletic, Archaeplastida may be paraphyletic, and the mutual relationships between these phyla are still to be fully resolved.
Recent reconstructions placed Archaeplastida and Hacrobia together in an "HA supergroup" or "AH supergroup", which was a sister clade to the SAR supergroup within the SAR/HA supergroup. However, this seems to have fallen out of favor as the monophyly of hacrobia has come under dispute.
The centrohelids or centroheliozoa are a large group of heliozoan protists. They include both mobile and sessile forms, found in freshwater and marine environments, especially at some depth.
Chromista is a proposed but polyphyletic biological kingdom, refined from the Chromalveolata, consisting of single-celled and multicellular eukaryotic species that share similar features in their photosynthetic organelles (plastids). It includes all eukaryotes whose plastids contain chlorophyll c and are surrounded by four membranes. If the ancestor already possessed chloroplasts derived by endosymbiosis from red algae, all non-photosynthetic Chromista have secondarily lost the ability to photosynthesise. Its members might have arisen independently as separate evolutionary groups from the last eukaryotic common ancestor.
The Rhizaria are a diverse and species-rich supergroup of mostly unicellular eukaryotes. Except for the Chlorarachniophytes and three species in the genus Paulinella in the phylum Cercozoa, they are all non-photosynthetic, but many foraminifera and radiolaria have a symbiotic relationship with unicellular algae. A multicellular form, Guttulinopsis vulgaris, a cellular slime mold, has been described. This group was used by Cavalier-Smith in 2002, although the term "Rhizaria" had been long used for clades within the currently recognized taxon.
Amorphea is a taxonomic supergroup that includes the basal Amoebozoa and Obazoa. That latter contains the Opisthokonta, which includes the Fungi, Animals and the Choanomonada, or Choanoflagellates. The taxonomic affinities of the members of this clade were originally described and proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 2002.
Chromalveolata was a eukaryote supergroup present in a major classification of 2005, then regarded as one of the six major groups within the eukaryotes. It was a refinement of the kingdom Chromista, first proposed by Thomas Cavalier-Smith in 1981. Chromalveolata was proposed to represent the organisms descended from a single secondary endosymbiosis involving a red alga and a bikont. The plastids in these organisms are those that contain chlorophyll c.
The Archaeplastida are a major group of eukaryotes, comprising the photoautotrophic red algae (Rhodophyta), green algae, land plants, and the minor group glaucophytes. It also includes the non-photosynthetic lineage Rhodelphidia, a predatorial (eukaryotrophic) flagellate that is sister to the Rhodophyta, and probably the microscopic picozoans. The Archaeplastida have chloroplasts that are surrounded by two membranes, suggesting that they were acquired directly through a single endosymbiosis event by phagocytosis of a cyanobacterium. All other groups which have chloroplasts, besides the amoeboid genus Paulinella, have chloroplasts surrounded by three or four membranes, suggesting they were acquired secondarily from red or green algae. Unlike red and green algae, glaucophytes have never been involved in secondary endosymbiosis events.
In the classification of eukaryotes, Cabozoa was a taxon proposed by Cavalier-Smith. It was a putative clade comprising the Rhizaria and Excavata. More recent research places the Rhizaria with the Alveolata and Stramenopiles instead of the Excavata, however, so the "Cabozoa" is polyphyletic.
Telonemia is a phylum of microscopic eukaryotes commonly known as telonemids. They are unicellular free-living flagellates with a unique combination of cell structures, including a highly complex cytoskeleton unseen in other eukaryotes.
Corticata, in the classification of eukaryotes, is a clade suggested by Thomas Cavalier-Smith to encompass the eukaryote supergroups of the following two groups:
SAR or Harosa is a highly diverse clade of eukaryotes, often considered a supergroup, that includes stramenopiles (heterokonts), alveolates, and rhizarians. It is a node-based taxon, including all descendants of the three groups' last common ancestor, and comprises most of the now-rejected Chromalveolata. Their sister group has been found to be telonemids, with which they make up the TSAR clade.
Jakobids are an order of free-living, heterotrophic, flagellar eukaryotes in the supergroup Excavata. They are small, and can be found in aerobic and anaerobic environments. The order Jakobida, believed to be monophyletic, consists of only twenty species at present, and was classified as a group in 1993. There is ongoing research into the mitochondrial genomes of jakobids, which are unusually large and bacteria-like, evidence that jakobids may be important to the evolutionary history of eukaryotes.
The cryptomonads-haptophytes assemblage is a proposed but disputed monophyletic grouping of unicellular eukaryotes that are not included in the SAR supergroup. Several alternative names have been used for the group, including Hacrobia ; CCTH ; and "Eukaryomonadae".
Diaphoretickes is a major group of eukaryotic organisms, with over 400,000 species. The majority of the earth's biomass that carries out photosynthesis belongs to Diaphoretickes.
Halvaria is a taxonomic grouping of protists that includes Alveolata and Stramenopiles (Heterokonta).
Cryptista is a clade of alga-like eukaryotes. It is most likely related to Archaeplastida which includes plants and many algae, within the larger group Diaphoretickes.
Haptista is a proposed group of protists made up of centrohelids and haptophytes. Phylogenomic studies indicate that Haptista, together with Ancoracysta twista, forms a sister clade to the SAR+Telonemia supergroup, but it may also be sister to the Cryptista (+Archaeplastida). It is thus one of the earliest diverging Diaphoretickes.
Palpitea is a proposed clade of eukaryotes that are related to Archaeplastida and the SAR supergroup.
The Scotokaryotes (Cavalier-Smith) is a proposed basal Neokaryote clade as sister of the Diaphoretickes. Basal Scotokaryote groupings are the Metamonads, the Malawimonas and the Podiata. In this phylogeny the Discoba are sometimes seen as paraphyletic and basal Eukaryotes.
The cortical alveolum is a cellular organelle consisting of a vesicle located under the cytoplasmic membrane, to which they give support. The term "corticate" comes from an evolutionary hypothesis about the common origin of kingdoms Plantae and Chromista, because both kingdoms have cortical alveoli in at least one phylum. At least three protist lineages exhibit these structures: Telonemia, Alveolata and Glaucophyta.
A supergroup, in evolutionary biology, is a large group of organisms that share one common ancestor and have important defining characteristics. It is an informal, mostly arbitrary rank in biological taxonomy that is often greater than phylum or kingdom, although some supergroups are also treated as phyla.
Data related to Bikonta at Wikispecies
Media related to Bikonta at Wikimedia Commons