Urceolus

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Urceolus
Urceolus alenizini Mereschkowsky 1879 plate XI 1.png
Illustration of U. alenizini by Mereschkowsky (1879) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Euglenida
Order: Peranemida
Family: Peranemidae
Genus: Urceolus
Mereschkowsky 1877 ["1879"] [lower-alpha 1]
Type species
Urceolus alenizini
Mereschkowsky 1877 ["1879"] [lower-alpha 1]
Species
Synonyms [4]
  • PhialonemaStein 1878 [6]
  • UrceolopsisStokes 1887 [7]

Urceolus (from Latin urceolus 'flask', 'pitcher') is a genus of heterotrophic flagellates belonging to the Euglenozoa, a phylum of single-celled eukaryotes or protists. Described by Russian biologist Konstantin Mereschkowsky in 1877, its type species is Urceolus alenizini . Species of this genus are characterized by deformable flask-shaped cells that exhibit at least one flagellum that is active at the tip, arising from a neck-like structure that also hosts the feeding apparatus. They are found in a variety of water body sediments across the globe. According to evolutionary studies, Urceolus belongs to a group of Euglenozoa known as peranemids, closely related to the euglenophyte algae.

Description

Urceolus species are single-celled eukaryotes or protists. Their cells are sack-shaped, narrow at the anterior end and expanded at the posterior end. The cells exhibit flexibility and squirming movements, more vigorous in some species. Like other phagotrophic protists, they present an organelle for ingestion known as a 'feeding apparatus', [8] an arrangement of microtubules beneath a concave portion of the cell membrane used for ingesting prey through phagocytosis. [9] Their cell body is deformable, but can be distinguished from other euglenids by a flared collar [10] or 'neck' in the anterior region, which hosts a canal where the feeding apparatus and the flagellum are located. [2] very small in some species. They have one emergent flagellum, but it is mostly active only at the tip. A rudimentary second flagellum is present in U. cyclostomus. [4]

Ecology and distribution

Urceolus species are heterotrophic, and feed on algae through phagocytosis. [11] They have been reported in marine and freshwater sediments of various locations, both temperate and tropical, such as the Norwegian Oslofjord, [12] lake Tämnaren  [ sv ] in Sweden, [13] the Danish portion of the Wadden Sea, [3] numerous ponds and wetlands in Czech Republic [11] and Russia, [8] tropical Australia, [14] [15] the Juma River in China, [16] and Fiji. [4] Like most peranemids, they live on the bottom mud of various water bodies, and only occasionally find their way into the water column, drifting among the plankton. [13]

Evolution

Urceolus is a genus of phagotrophic flagellates belonging to the Euglenida, a highly diverse group that also contains the phototrophic euglenophyte algae. One trait that has been used to investigate the evolution from heterotrophic euglenids towards their phototrophic counterpart is the number of strips within the feeding canal. In Urceolus cyclostomus , the canal has a number of strips equivalent to the number of strips along the entire exterior of the cell (around 40). In contrast, more 'basal' heterotrophic euglenids such as Dinema have half as many strips in the canal as the cell exterior (around 20). This is known as the 'second strip duplication event', an evolutionary innovation that presumably led to more plastic movement (metaboly) and an increase in cell size for a clade uniting Urceolus, Peranema and the phototrophic euglenophytes, [17] known as Spirocuta. [10] [18]

Further morphological traits seen in Urceolus, such as a swelling around the flagellum that resembles a photoreceptor, and a stigma that resembles the eyespot of euglenophyte algae, led to the hypothesis that Urceolus was the sister group of the euglenophytes. [17] Phylogenetic analyses through DNA sequences place all peranemids (e.g., Urceolus, Peranema and others) as a whole as the sister group to euglenophytes, rather than any particular genus. The following cladogram, based on a study published in 2021, represents these findings: [18]

Euglenida

Systematics

Taxonomic history

The illustrations drawn by Friedrich Stein to describe Phialonema cyclostomum (1878) Stein 1878 Tafel XXIII Phialonema cropped.png
The illustrations drawn by Friedrich Stein to describe Phialonema cyclostomum (1878)

The genus Urceolus was first described by Russian biologist Konstantin Mereschkowsky in 1877, [lower-alpha 1] in a memoir on the protozoa of the north of Russia. [2] He described it to accommodate a rare species of flagellate that he discovered that same year in the White Sea, near the Solovetsky Monastery, named U. alenizini . He characterized this new genus by the unique urn or pitcher-shaped cells, and accordingly named it urceolus meaning 'pitcher' in Latin. [19] [1] The next year, German zoologist Friderich Stein described a new flagellate by the name of Phialonema cyclostomum , the first species of its genus. [6] Upon comparing the two species, Mereschkowsky concluded that the appearance and description of P. cyclostomum matched his description of Urceolus, and he transferred it to his genus as U. cyclostomus. Consequently, Phialonema became a junior synonym of Urceolus in 1881. [2]

In 1887, American protozoologist Alfred Cheatham Stokes described the genus Urceolopsis to accommodate the species U. sabulosus. This genus is essentially equal in appearance to Urceolus, with the only difference being that the cell surface is covered in adherent sand grains. [7] [20] It was later synonimised to Urceolus for that reason. [4] [12]

Urceolus and other colorless, non-photosynthetic flexible flagellates such as Heteronema , Peranema and Anisonema were initially lumped together in the family Peranemidae, while similar but phototrophic, green-coloured algae such as Euglena composed the family Euglenidae. Both families belong to the Euglenida, [21] one of the major groups within the phylum Euglenozoa, a basal group of eukaryotes. [10] The taxonomic status of Peranemidae has changed through the years: first classified in the paraphyletic order Heteronematales, [3] [4] it later became the sole family of the order Peranemida, regarded as the closest relatives of the photosynthetic euglenids. [18] [22] Many colorless euglenids were transferred from Peranemidae to other groups, but Urceolus is one of the few genera that remains in the family. [23]

Classification

Urceolus contains the following species: [3] [4]

Several authors note that there is considerable ambiguity in the identification of Urceolus species, because most original descriptions are inadequate and confident identification is not always possible. In addition, detail is often obscured by adhering particles of detritus. [4] [14]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Some online resources, such as AlgaeBase, attribute the original description of Urceolus to a 1879 article in the German journal Archiv für Mikroskopische Anatomie . [1] However, according to Mereschkowsky himself [2] and posterior articles, [3] [4] this is a translation of an article published two years earlier in a Russian journal. [5] This explains the priority of Urceolus over Phialonema, a junior synonym described in 1878. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flagellate</span> Group of protists with at least one whip-like appendage

A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word flagellate also describes a particular construction characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and their means of motion. The term presently does not imply any specific relationship or classification of the organisms that possess flagella. However, the term "flagellate" is included in other terms which are more formally characterized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stramenopile</span> Clade of eukaryotes

The Stramenopiles, also called Heterokonts, are a clade of organisms distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, and in some they have been secondarily lost. Stramenopiles represent one of the three major clades in the SAR supergroup, along with Alveolata and Rhizaria.

<i>Euglena</i> Genus of unicellular flagellate eukaryotes

Euglena is a genus of single cell flagellate eukaryotes. It is the best known and most widely studied member of the class Euglenoidea, a diverse group containing some 54 genera and at least 200 species. Species of Euglena are found in fresh water and salt water. They are often abundant in quiet inland waters where they may bloom in numbers sufficient to color the surface of ponds and ditches green (E. viridis) or red (E. sanguinea).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euglenid</span> Class of protozoans

Euglenids are one of the best-known groups of flagellates, which are excavate eukaryotes of the phylum Euglenophyta and their cell structure is typical of that group. They are commonly found in freshwater, especially when it is rich in organic materials, with a few marine and endosymbiotic members. Many euglenids feed by phagocytosis, or strictly by diffusion. A monophyletic group consisting of the mixotrophic Rapaza viridis and the two groups Eutreptiales and Euglenales have chloroplasts and produce their own food through photosynthesis. This group is known to contain the carbohydrate paramylon.

<i>Bodo</i> (excavate) Genus of micro-organisms

Bodo is a genus of microscopic kinetoplastids, flagellate excavates first described in 1831 by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg. The genus is small, as it has recently been redefined to include only four species. Bodo includes free-living, phagotrophic organisms that can be found in many marine and freshwater environments as well as some terrestrial environments. Being phagotrophic, Bodo feeds on bacteria and other microorganisms that it finds while swimming through its water-based habitats. The swimming-like movement is facilitated by the two unequal flagella that Bodo possesses which arise from an anteriorly located flagellar pocket. Bodo is roughly bean-shaped and is often missed in samples from water or terrestrial environments due to its small size.

<i>Bodo saltans</i> Species of kinetoplastid flagellated phagotrophic protozoa

Bodo saltans is a free-living nonparasitic species of kinetoplastid flagellated phagotrophic protozoa that feed on bacteria. Bodo saltans cells have been reported in freshwater and marine environments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Euglenales</span> Order of flagellate eukaryotes

Euglenales is an order of flagellates in the phylum Euglenozoa. The family includes the most well-known euglenoid genus, Euglena, as well as other common genera like Phacus and Lepocinclis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protozoa</span> Single-celled eukaryotic organisms that feed on organic matter

Protozoa are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically, protozoans were regarded as "one-celled animals".

Carpediemonas is genus of Metamonada, and belongs to the group Excavata. This organism is a unicellular flagellated eukaryote that was first discovered in substrate samples from the Great Barrier Reef. Carpediemonas can be found in anaerobic intertidal sediment, where it feeds on bacteria. A feature of this species is the presence of a feeding groove, a characteristic of the excavates. Like most other metamonads, Carpediemonas does not rely on an aerobic mitochondrion to produce energy. Instead, it contains hydrogenosomes that are used to produce ATP. This organism has two flagella: a posterior one used for feeding on the substrate, and an anterior one that moves in a slower sweeping motion. Carpediemonas is assigned to the fornicates, where similar Carpediemonas-like organisms are used in researching the evolution within excavates. Although Carpediemonas is a member of the metamonads, it is unusual in the sense that it is free-living and has three basal bodies.

Trimastix is a genus of excavate protists, the sole occupant of the order Trimastigida. Trimastix are bacterivorous, free living and anaerobic. It was first observed in 1881 by William Kent. There are few known species, and the genus's role in the ecosystem is largely unknown. However, it is known that they generally live in marine environments within the tissues of decaying organisms to maintain an anoxic environment. Much interest in this group is related to its close association with other members of Preaxostyla. These organisms do not have classical mitochondria, and as such, much of the research involving these microbes is aimed at investigating the evolution of mitochondria.

<i>Peranema</i> Genus of protozoans

Peranema is a genus of free-living phagotrophic euglenids. There are more than 20 nominal species, varying in size between 8 and 200 micrometers. Peranema cells are gliding flagellates found in freshwater lakes, ponds and ditches, and are often abundant at the bottom of stagnant pools rich in decaying organic material. Although they belong to the class Euglenoidea, and are morphologically similar to the green Euglena, Peranema have no chloroplasts, and do not conduct autotrophy. Instead, they capture live prey, such as yeast, bacteria and other flagellates, consuming them with the help of a rigid feeding apparatus called a "rod-organ." Unlike the green euglenids, they lack both an eyespot (stigma), and the paraflagellar body (photoreceptor) that is normally coupled with that organelle. However, while Peranema lack a localized photoreceptor, they do possess the light-sensitive protein rhodopsin, and respond to changes in light with a characteristic "curling behaviour."

<i>Neobodo</i> Genus of protists

Neobodo are diverse protists belonging to the eukaryotic supergroup Excavata. They are Kinetoplastids in the subclass Bodonidae. They are small, free-living, heterotrophic flagellates with two flagella of unequal length used to create a propulsive current for feeding. As members of Kinetoplastids, they have an evident kinetoplast There was much confusion and debate within the class Kinetoplastid and subclass Bodonidae regarding the classification of the organism, but finally the new genera Neobodo was proposed by Keith Vickerman. Although they are one of the most common flagellates found in freshwater, they are also able to tolerate saltwater Their ability to alternate between both marine and freshwater environments in many parts of the world give them a “cosmopolitan” character. Due to their relatively microscopic size ranging between 4–12 microns, they are further distinguished as heterotrophic nanoflagellates. This small size ratio limits them as bacterivores that swim around feeding on bacteria attached to surfaces or in aggregates.

Petalomonas is a genus of phagotrophic, flagellated euglenoids. Phagotrophic euglenoids are one of the most important forms of flagellates in benthic aquatic systems, playing an important role in microbial food webs. The traits that distinguish this particular genus are highly variable, especially at higher taxa. However, general characteristics such as a rigid cell shape and single emergent flagellum can describe the species among this genus.

Heteronema is a genus of phagotrophic, flagellated euglenoids that are most widely distributed in fresh water environments. This genus consists of two very distinguishable morphogroups that are phylogenetically closely related. These morphogroups are deciphered based on shape, locomotion and other ultrastructural traits. However, this genus does impose taxonomic problems due to the varying historical descriptions of Heteronema species and its similarity to the genus Paranema. The species H. exaratum, was the first heteronemid with a skidding motion to be sequenced, which led to the discovery that it was not closely related to H. scaphrum, contrary to what was previously assumed, but instead to a sister group of primary osmotrophs. This suggests that skidding heteronemids can also be distinguished phylogenetically, being more closely related to Anisoma, Dinema and Aphageae, than to other species within Heteronema.

Anisonemidae is a small family of euglenid algae, with two accepted genera. It is the only family in the order Anisonemida.

Heliorapha is a genus of heliozoan protists, amoeboid eukaryotes with stiff axopodia radiating from their cells. It contains one species, Heliorapha azurina. It is classified within a monotypic family Helioraphidae inside the actinophryids, a group of heliozoa that belong to the Ochrophyta along with other protists such as diatoms and brown algae.

<i>Urceolus cyclostomus</i> Species of flagellate

Urceolus cyclostomus is a species of heterotrophic flagellates. It was initially described by Friedrich Stein in 1878 as Phialonema cyclostomum, from an unknown location. Due to its morphological similarities to Urceolus alenizini, the author of the latter, Konstantin Mereschkowsky, transferred it to the genus Urceolus in 1881. Like other species of the genus, its cells have a neck and a wide aperture to a canal that hosts a single flagellum and its feeding apparatus. It is distinguished from other species by a significantly more rigid cell shape, among other traits. It can be found in the bottom sediment of freshwater and brackish water bodies, as a consumer of algae.

<i>Urceolus alenizini</i> Species of flagellate

Urceolus alenizini is a species of flagellates. It was described by Konstantin Mereschkowsky in 1877 as the type species of the genus Urceolus. It is a rare species only recorded by its author once in the White Sea, in northern Russia. It is distinguished by other members of the genus by the lack of spiral stripes in its cell surface.

<i>Ploeotia</i> Genus of flagellates

Ploeotia is a genus of heterotrophic flagellates belonging to the Euglenida, a diverse group of flagellated protists in the phylum Euglenozoa. Species of Ploeotia are composed of rigid cells exhibiting two flagella. The genus was described by Félix Dujardin in 1841.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peranemid</span> Group of flagellates

The peranemids are a group of phagotrophic flagellates, single-celled eukaryotes or protists, belonging to the Euglenida, a diverse lineage of flagellates that contains the closely related euglenophyte algae.

References

  1. 1 2 3 C. von Mereschkowsky (1879). "Studien über Protozoen des nördlichen Russland" [Studies on protozoa of northern Russia]. Archiv für Mikroskopische Anatomie (in German). 16: 153–248.
  2. 1 2 3 4 C. Mereschkowsky (1881). "XVIII.—On some new or little-known Infusoria". Annals and Magazine of Natural History . Fifth series. 7 (39): 209–219. doi:10.1080/00222938109459496.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Jacob Larsen (December 1987). "Algal studies of the Danish Wadden Sea. IV. A taxonomic study of the interstitial euglenoid flagellates". Nordic Journal of Botany . 7 (5): 589–607. doi:10.1111/J.1756-1051.1987.TB02028.X. ISSN   0107-055X. Wikidata   Q104049037.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Jacob Larsen; David J. Patterson (August 1990). "Some flagellates (Protista) from tropical marine sediments". Journal of Natural History . 24 (4): 801–937. doi:10.1080/00222939000770571. ISSN   0022-2933. Wikidata   Q54494137.
  5. ↑ K. S. Mereschkowsky (1877). "Etyudy nad prosteyshimi zhivotnymi severa Rossii" Этюды над простейшими животными севера России[Studies on protozoa of northern Russia]. Trudy S.-Peterburgskago Obshchestva EstestvoispytateleiТруды Санкт-Петербургскаго Общества естествоиспытателей[Proceedings of the St. Petersburg Society of Naturalists] (in Russian). 8: 203–376.
  6. 1 2 3 Friedrich Ritter von Stein (1878). Der Organismus der Infusionsthiere. III. Abtheilung. Der Organismus der Flagellaten nach eigenen Forschungen in Systematischer Reihenfolge. I. Hälfte, Den noch nicht abgeschlossenen allgemeinen Theil nebst Erklärung der sämmtlichen Abbildungen enthaltend [The Infusoria Organism. Volume III. The Flagellate Organism according to our own research in a systematic order. Part I, Containing the general part, which has not yet been completed, along with an explanation of all the illustrations] (in German). Lepizig: W. Engelmann. plate XXIII, figures 42–48. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.3933 . OCLC   475289589 . Retrieved 2024-04-17.
  7. 1 2 Alfred C. Stokes (1887). "Notices of New Fresh-Water Infusoria". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 24 (126): 244–255.
  8. 1 2 K. I. Prokina (July 2019). "Heterotrophic Flagellates from Sphagnum Bogs and Terrace-Forest and Floodplain Water Bodies of the Central Russian Forest-Steppe". Inland Water Biology. 12 (3): 276–289. doi:10.1134/S199508291903012X. ISSN   1995-0829. Wikidata   Q119981891.
  9. ↑ Brian S Leander; Heather J Esson; Susana A Breglia (1 October 2007). "Macroevolution of complex cytoskeletal systems in euglenids". BioEssays . 29 (10): 987–1000. doi:10.1002/BIES.20645. ISSN   0265-9247. PMID   17876783. Wikidata   Q33299331.
  10. 1 2 3 Gordon Lax; Alastair G. B. Simpson (16 August 2020). "The Molecular Diversity of Phagotrophic Euglenids Examined Using Single-cell Methods". Protist . 171 (5): 125757. doi:10.1016/J.PROTIS.2020.125757. ISSN   1434-4610. PMID   33126020. Wikidata   Q101127864.
  11. 1 2 Petr Hašler; Jana Štěpánková; Jana Špačková; et al. (1 September 2008). "Epipelic cyanobacteria and algae: a case study from Czech ponds". Fottea (Praha). 8 (2): 133–146. doi:10.5507/FOT.2008.012. ISSN   1802-5439. Wikidata   Q119649001.
  12. 1 2 3 Eider Zubizarreta Garai (2005). Diversity of sandflagellates in the Oslofjord (Master thesis). Universitetet i Oslo.
  13. 1 2 3 H. Skuja (1956). "Taxonomische und Biologische Studien das Phytoplankton Schwedischer Binnengewasser" [Taxonomic and biological studies of the phytoplankton of Swedish inland waters](PDF). Nova Acta Regiae Societatis Scientiarum Uppsaliensis. 4th series (in German). 16: 1–403.
  14. 1 2 Won J. Lee; Alastair G. B. Simpson; David J. Patterson (2005). "Free-living Heterotrophic Flagellates from Freshwater Sites in Tasmania (Australia), a Field Survey" (PDF). Acta Protozoologica. 44 (4): 321–250. ISSN   0065-1583. Wikidata   Q124695486.
  15. ↑ Won Je Lee (June 2006). "Heterotrophic Euglenids from Marine Sediments of Cape Tribulation, Tropical Australia" (PDF). Ocean science journal : OSJ. 41 (2): 59–73. doi:10.1007/BF03022412. ISSN   1738-5261. Wikidata   Q104428258.
  16. ↑ Fengchao Li; Xianjiang Kang; Wenbo Yang; Yueqiang Guan; Xiaohui Zhang; Weiwei Liu; Gongming Shen; Jilong Li; Hongwei Wang (2006). "Protozoan community character in relation to trophic level in the Beijing section of the Juma River". Biodiversity Science. 14 (4): 327–332. doi: 10.1360/biodiv.060004 .
  17. 1 2 Brian S. Leander; Richard E. Triemer; Mark A. Farmer (2001). "Character evolution in heterotrophic euglenids". European Journal of Protistology . 37 (3): 337–356. doi:10.1078/0932-4739-00842. ISSN   0932-4739. Wikidata   Q124711495.
  18. 1 2 3 Lax G, Kolisko M, Eglit Y, Lee WJ, Yubuki N, Karnkowska A, Leander BS, Burger G, Keeling PJ, Simpson AGB (2021). "Multigene phylogenetics of euglenids based on single-cell transcriptomics of diverse phagotrophs". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 159 (107088). doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107088.
  19. ↑ "Urceolus". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
  20. ↑ H.W. Conn; C.H. Edmondson (1918). "Chapter IX. Flagellate and Ciliate Protozoa (Mastigophora et Infusoria)". In Henry Baldwin Ward; George Chandler Whipple (eds.). Fresh-water biology. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 238–300. doi: 10.5962/bhl.title.160213 .
  21. ↑ Theodore Louis Jahn (1 September 1946). "The euglenoid flagellates". The Quarterly Review of Biology . 21 (3): 246–274. doi:10.1086/395316. ISSN   0033-5770. PMID   20274710. Wikidata   Q83295819.
  22. ↑ Lax G, Cho A, Keeling PJ (2023). "Phylogenomics of novel ploeotid taxa contribute to the backbone of the euglenid tree". The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 70 (e12973): e12973. doi: 10.1111/jeu.12973 . PMID   36912454.
  23. ↑ Thomas Cavalier-Smith (15 September 2016). "Higher classification and phylogeny of Euglenozoa". European Journal of Protistology . 56: 250–276. doi:10.1016/J.EJOP.2016.09.003. ISSN   0932-4739. PMID   27889663. Wikidata   Q39151632.
  24. ↑ B. W. Skvortzow. "Neue oder wenig bekannte Protisten. XI. Neue oder wenig bekannte Flagellaten. X. Farblose Euglenaceen aus Nord-Mandschurei (China)" [New or little-known protists. XI. New or little-known flagellates. X. Colorless Euglenaceae from North Manchuria (China)](PDF). Archiv für Protistenkunde (in German). 48 (1): 180–186.
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