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The metamonads are a large group of flagellate amitochondriate microscopic eukaryotes. Their composition is not entirely settled, but they include the retortamonads, diplomonads, and possibly the parabasalids and oxymonads as well. These four groups are all anaerobic, occurring mostly as symbiotes or parasites of animals, as is the case with Giardia lamblia which causes diarrhea in mammals.
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.
Stephanopogon is a genus of flagellated marine protist that superficially resembles a ciliate.
Loma is a genus of microsporidian parasites, infecting fish. The taxonomic position of Loma in the family Glugeidae has been questioned by DNA sequencing results.
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.
Proteromonas is a genus of single-celled biflagellated microbial eukaryotes belonging to the Superphylum Stramenopiles which are characterized by the presence of tripartite, hair-like structures on the anteriorly-directed larger of the two flagella. Proteromonas on the other hand are notable by having tripartite hairs called somatonemes not on the flagella but on the posterior of the cell. Proteromonas are closely related to Karotomorpha and Blastocystis, which belong to the Opalines group.
Neoparamoeba is a genus of Amoebozoa. Species contain intracellular kinetoplastid parasites, of the genus Perkinsela, which are maintained in close contact with the nucleus and are considered obligatory and mutualistic.
Perkinsids are single-celled protists that live as intracellular parasites of a variety of other organisms. They are classified as the class Perkinsea within the monotypic phylum Perkinsozoa. It is part of the eukaryotic supergroup Alveolata, along with dinoflagellates, their closest relatives, and another parasitic group known as Apicomplexa. Perkinsids are found in aquatic environments, as parasites of dinoflagellates and various animals.
Parvilucifera is a genus of marine alveolates that behave as endoparasites of dinoflagellates. It was described in 1999 by biologists Fredrik Norén and Øjvind Moestrup, who identified the genus among collections of Dinophysis dinoflagellates off the coast of Sweden. Initially mistaken for products of sexual reproduction, the round bodies found within these collections were eventually recognized as sporangia, spherical structures that generate zoospores of a parasitic protist. This organism was later identified as P. infectans, the type species. The examination of this organism and its close genetic relationship to Perkinsus led to the creation of the Perkinsozoa phylum within the Alveolata group.
Cardiosporidium is a genus of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects the ascidian Ciona intestinalis.
Psalteriomonas lanterna is a species of amoebae in the group of Heterolobosea. The cells of the flagellate stage show four nuclei, four ventral grooves and four mastigont systems, each with four flagella. It lacks a Golgi apparatus and reproduction occurs in both stages of its life cycle.
Perkinsela is a genus of kinetoplastids. Species are obligate intracellular components of Neoparamoeba and their relationship is considered mutualistic.
Varisulca was a proposed basal Podiate taxon. It encompassed several lineages of heterotrophic protists, most notably the ancyromonads (planomonads), collodictyonids (diphylleids), rigifilids and mantamonadids. Recent evidence suggests that the latter three are closely related to each other, forming a clade called CRuMs, but that this is unlikely to be specifically related to ancyromonads
Chilomastix is a genus of pyriform excavates within the family Retortamonadidae All species within this genus are flagellated, structured with three flagella pointing anteriorly and a fourth contained within the feeding groove. Chilomastix also lacks Golgi apparatus and mitochondria but does possess a single nucleus. The genus parasitizes a wide range of vertebrate hosts, but is known to be typically non-pathogenic, and is therefore classified as harmless. The life cycle of Chilomastix lacks an intermediate host or vector. Chilomastix has a resistant cyst stage responsible for transmission and a trophozoite stage, which is recognized as the feeding stage. Chilomastix mesnili is one of the more studied species in this genus due to the fact it is a human parasite. Therefore, much of the information on this genus is based on what is known about this one species.
Intramacronucleata is a subphylum of ciliates. The group is characterized by the manner in which division of the macronucleus is accomplished during binary fission of the cell. In ciliates of this subphylum, division of the macronucleus is achieved by the action of microtubules which are assembled inside the macronucleus itself. This is in contrast to heterotrich ciliates of the subphylum Postciliodesmatophora, in which division of the macronucleus relies on microtubules formed outside the macronuclear envelope.
Wallaceina is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family Trypanosomatidae. This generic name is a replacement name for ProteomonasPodlipaev, Frolov et Kolesnikov, 1990 because the latter Proteomonas was already attributed to a cryptomonad. Wallaceina is a taxonomic patronym honoring the protistologist Franklin G. Wallace, a pioneer in the modern taxonomy of trypanosomatids.
Carlos José Correia de Azevedo is a Portuguese biologist specialising in microparasites of aquatic organisms, particularly Apicomplexa, Haplosporidia, Microsporidia, and Myxozoa.
Meteora sporadica is a mysterious free-living protozoan discovered in 2002 during sampling at a depth of 1,230 meters below sea level in the Sporades Basin, part of the Mediterranean Sea. So far it is the only species of the genus Meteora.
Hyalochlorella marina, the only species in the genus Hyalochlorella and also known as Dermocystidium sp., is a marine heterotrophic eukaryote with uncertain phylogenic position.
Parviluciferaceae is a family of perkinsozoans, a group of endoparasitic protists present in aquatic environments.
References
- ↑ Brugerolle, G. (2002). "Cryptophagus subtilis: a new parasite of cryptophytes affiliated with the Perkinsozoa lineage". Eur J Protistol. 37 (4): 379–90. doi:10.1078/0932-4739-00837.
- ↑ Brugerolle, G. (2003). "Apicomplexan parasite Cryptophagus renamed Rastrimonas gen. nov". Eur J Protistol. 39 (1): 101. doi:10.1078/0932-4739-00910.