Blastocladiella | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Fungi |
Division: | Blastocladiomycota |
Class: | Blastocladiomycetes |
Order: | Blastocladiales |
Family: | Blastocladiaceae |
Genus: | Blastocladiella Matthews (1937) |
Synonyms | |
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Guanylate cyclase is a lyase enzyme that converts guanosine triphosphate (GTP) to cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and pyrophosphate:
Retinylidene proteins, or rhodopsins in a broad sense, are proteins that use retinal as a chromophore for light reception. They are the molecular basis for a variety of light-sensing systems from phototaxis in flagellates to eyesight in animals. Retinylidene proteins include all forms of opsin and rhodopsin. While rhodopsin in the narrow sense refers to a dim-light visual pigment found in vertebrates, usually on rod cells, rhodopsin in the broad sense refers to any molecule consisting of an opsin and a retinal chromophore in the ground state. When activated by light, the chromophore is isomerized, at which point the molecule as a whole is no longer rhodopsin, but a related molecule such as metarhodopsin. However, it remains a retinylidene protein. The chromophore then separates from the opsin, at which point the bare opsin is a retinylidene protein. Thus, the molecule remains a retinylidene protein throughout the phototransduction cycle.
The Spitzenkörper is a structure found in fungal hyphae that is the organizing center for hyphal growth and morphogenesis. It consists of many small vesicles and is present in growing hyphal tips, during spore germination, and where branch formation occurs. Its position in the hyphal tip correlates with the direction of hyphal growth. The Spitzenkörper is a part of the endomembrane system in fungi.
Blastocladiomycota is one of the currently recognized phyla within the kingdom Fungi. Blastocladiomycota was originally the order Blastocladiales within the phylum Chytridiomycota until molecular and zoospore ultrastructural characters were used to demonstrate it was not monophyletic with Chytridiomycota. The order was first erected by Petersen for a single genus, Blastocladia, which was originally considered a member of the oomycetes. Accordingly, members of Blastocladiomycota are often referred to colloquially as "chytrids." However, some feel "chytrid" should refer only to members of Chytridiomycota. Thus, members of Blastocladiomycota are commonly called "blastoclads" by mycologists. Alternatively, members of Blastocladiomycota, Chytridiomycota, and Neocallimastigomycota lumped together as the zoosporic true fungi. Blastocladiomycota contains 5 families and approximately 12 genera. This early diverging branch of kingdom Fungi is the first to exhibit alternation of generations. As well, two (once) popular model organisms—Allomyces macrogynus and Blastocladiella emersonii—belong to this phylum.
David R. Soll is a professor of Biology at the University of Iowa. He is best known for the motion analysis of living cells, the discovery of Candida albicans phenotypic switching and monoclonal antibody technology.
The Blastocladiaceae are a family of fungi in the division Blastocladiomycota. It contains the following genera:
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2016.
Microbial rhodopsins, also known as bacterial rhodopsins, are retinal-binding proteins that provide light-dependent ion transport and sensory functions in halophilic and other bacteria. They are integral membrane proteins with seven transmembrane helices, the last of which contains the attachment point for retinal. Most microbial rhodopsins pump inwards, however "mirror rhodopsins" which function outwards. have been discovered.
Spizellomyces punctatus is a chytrid fungus living in soil. It is a saprotrophic fungus that colonizes decaying plant material. Being an early diverging fungus, S. punctatus retains ancestral cellular features that are also found in animals and amoebae. Its pathogenic relatives, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans, infect amphibians and cause global biodiversity loss. The pure culture of S. punctatus was first obtained by Koch.