The Protistan Microbiome of Grassland Soil: Diversity in the Mesoscale
Publication date: Available online 10 April 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Paul Christiaan Venter, Frank Nitsche, Anne Domonell, Peter Heger, Hartmut Arndt Genomic data for less than one quarter of ∼1.8 million named species on earth exist in public databases like GenBank. Little information exists on the estimated one million small sized (1–100μm) heterotrophic nanoflagellates and ciliates and their taxa-area relationship. We analyzed environmental DNA from 150 geo-referenced grassland plots representing topographical and land-use ranges typical for Central Europe. High through-put barcoding allowed the identi...
Source: Protist - May 2, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Multiple Dictyostelid Species Destroy Biofilms of Klebsiella oxytoca and Other Gram Negative Species
Publication date: Available online 12 April 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Dean Sanders, Katarzyna D. Borys, Fikrullah Kisa, Sheryl A. Rakowski, Marcela Lozano, Marcin Filutowicz Dictyostelids are free-living phagocytes that feed on bacteria in diverse habitats. When bacterial prey is in short supply or depleted, they undergo multicellular development culminating in the formation of dormant spores. In this work, we tested isolates representing four dictyostelid species from two genera (Dictyostelium and Polysphondylium) for the potential to feed on biofilms preformed on glass and polycarbonate surfaces. The abiliti...
Source: Protist - May 2, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
How Far do Ciliate Flagships Sail? A Proposed Gondawanaland Endemic Species at Anchor in Idaho Soils
This report comprises a morphologic description of two populations of L. micelae from Laurentian soils (Idaho, Northwest USA) soils. The flagship concept is briefly reviewed and ciliate biogeography is discussed in light of these findings. (Source: Protist)
Source: Protist - May 2, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
In Vitro Inhibition of Leishmania Attachment to Sandfly Midguts and LL-5 Cells by Divalent Metal Chelators, Anti-gp63 and Phosphoglycans
Publication date: July 2017 Source:Protist, Volume 168, Issue 3 Author(s): Rodrigo Pedro Soares, Ellen Cristina Félix Altoé, Vítor Ennes-Vidal, Simone M. da Costa, Elizabeth Ferreira Rangel, Nataly Araújo de Souza, Vanderlei Campos da Silva, Petr Volf, Claudia Masini d’Avila-Levy Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania infantum are the causative agents of cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, respectively. Several aspects of the vector-parasite interaction involving gp63 and phosphoglycans have been individually assayed in different studies. However, their role under the same experimental conditions was not...
Source: Protist - May 2, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Aviisotricha hoazini n. gen., n. sp., the Morphology and Molecular Phylogeny of an Anaerobic Ciliate from the Crop of the Hoatzin (Opisthocomus hoazin), the Cow Among the Birds
Publication date: Available online 7 March 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Christian F. Bardele, Sigrid Schultheiß, Denis H. Lynn, André-Denis G. Wright, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Nestor E. Obispo The hoatzin is the only known avian species that has evolved a foregut fermentation system similar to that of ruminant animals. Due to the closeness of the bird’s fermentation chamber, the crop, to the bird’s beak it exudes an unpleasant odour; therefore, the hoatzin is called the “cow among the birds”. In addition to Eubacteria and Archaea, responsible for digestion of the vegetation they consume, the bird...
Source: Protist - March 6, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
The Symbiotic Bacterium Fuels the Energy Metabolism of the Host Trypanosomatid Strigomonas culicis
Publication date: Available online 28 February 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Ana Carolina Loyola-Machado, Allan Cézar Azevedo-Martins, Carolina Moura Costa Catta-Preta, Antonio Galina, Wanderley de Souza, Maria Cristina M. Motta The mutualistic relationship between trypanosomatids and their respective endosymbiotic bacteria represents an excellent model for studying metabolic co-evolution since the symbiont completes essential biosynthetic routes of the host cell. In this work, we investigated the influence of the endosymbiont on the energy metabolism of Strigomonas culicis by comparing the wild strain with aposy...
Source: Protist - February 27, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Diversity of the Photosynthetic Paulinella Species, with the Description of Paulinella micropora sp. nov. and the Chromatophore Genome Sequence for strain KR01
Publication date: Available online 14 February 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Duckhyun Lhee, Eun Chan Yang, Jong Im Kim, Takuro Nakayama, Giuseppe Zuccarello, Robert A. Andersen, Hwan Su Yoon The thecate filose amoeba Paulinella chromatophora is a good model organism for understanding plastid organellogenesis because its chromatophore was newly derived from an alpha-cyanobacterium. Paulinella chromatophora was the only known photosynthetic Paulinella species until recent studies that suggested a species level of diversity. Here, we described a new photosynthetic species P. micropora sp. nov. based on morphological...
Source: Protist - February 14, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Microsatellite Markers for Population Genetic Applications in the Domoic Acid-producing Diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis Frenguelli (Bacillariophyceae)
Publication date: Available online 26 January 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Nicolaus G. Adams, Piper Schwenke, G. Jason Smith, Vera L. Trainer Microsatellites are commonly used markers in population genetics and are increasingly being employed to determine population structure in phytoplankton populations. We have developed seven polymorphic microsatellite markers for the domoic-acid producing diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis. Using these markers, thirty P. australis isolates were genotyped, 10 isolates were from Monterey Bay, California and 20 were from off the northern coast of Oregon. The number of alleles per l...
Source: Protist - January 25, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Distribution of Ciliates in Intertidal Sediments across Geographic Distances: A Molecular View
Publication date: Available online 19 January 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Feng Zhao, Kuidong Xu The estimation of the diversity and geographic distribution of protists in particular ciliates has long been an ongoing debate. We estimated the distribution of ciliates in intertidal sediments with geographic distance ranging from 10cm to 1,000km, using high-throughput DNA sequencing. Higher community similarity, in particular that of rare ciliate taxa, occurred between replicates than between sites. Statistical analyses showed that the community dissimilarities of both abundant and moderately abundant ciliates had corre...
Source: Protist - January 18, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Protistan Biogeography: A Snapshot Across a Major Shipping Corridor Spanning Two Oceans
Publication date: Available online 6 January 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Katrina M. Pagenkopp Lohan, Robert C. Fleischer, Mark E. Torchin, Gregory M. Ruiz Deciphering patterns of protistan taxa is a crucial step for understanding anthropogenic and environmental impacts on biogeography. We characterized and compared protistan communities from environmental samples collected along a major shipping corridor, the Panama Canal, and the Bocas del Toro archipelago. We used metabarcoding with high throughput sequencing (HTS) with the V4 hypervariable region of the ribosomal gene complex (rDNA). We detected many protistan ...
Source: Protist - January 6, 2017 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Bothrosome Formation in Schizochytrium aggregatum (Labyrinthulomycetes, Stramenopiles) during Zoospore Settlement
Publication date: Available online 14 December 2016 Source:Protist Author(s): Izumi Iwata, Kei Kimura, Yuji Tomaru, Taizo Motomura, Kanae Koike, Kazuhiko Koike, Daiske Honda Labyrinthulomycetes are characterized by the presence of ectoplasmic nets originating from an organelle known as the bothrosome, whose evolutionary origin is unclear. To address this issue, we investigated the developmental process from a zoospore to a vegetative cell in Schizochytrium aggregatum. After disappearance of the flagellum during zoospore settlement, the bothrosome emerged at the anterior-ventral pole of the cells. A new Golgi body ...
Source: Protist - December 14, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Budding of the Alveolate Alga Vitrella brassicaformis Resembles Sexual and Asexual Processes in Apicomplexan Parasites
Publication date: Available online 13 December 2016 Source:Protist Author(s): Zoltán Füssy, Petra Masařová, Jitka Kručinská, Heather J. Esson, Miroslav Oborník Ease of cultivation and availability of genomic data promoted intensive research of free-living phototrophic relatives of apicomplexans, i.e. Chromera velia and Vitrella brassicaformis. Chromera and Vitrella differ significantly in their physiology, morphology, phylogenetic position and genomic features, but Vitrella has not gained as much attention. Here we describe two types of Vitrella zoosporangia. One contains zoospores surrounded by roughly struc...
Source: Protist - December 13, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Description of Hyalodiscus flabellus sp. nov. (Vampyrellida, Rhizaria) and Identification of its Bacterial Endosymbiont, “Candidatus Megaira polyxenophila” (Rickettsiales, Alphaproteobacteria)
Publication date: Available online 7 December 2016 Source:Protist Author(s): Sebastian Hess The genus Hyalodiscus HERTWIG AND LESSER, 1874 comprises naked freshwater amoebae with a unique set of characters, namely a vibrant orange-red colour, a discoid or fan-shaped morphology, and a characteristic rolling locomotion. Some species feed on the chloroplasts of green algae and were regarded as relatives of Vampyrella CIENKOWSKI, 1865. However, because of striking morphological differences and the lack of molecular data, the exact relationship of Hyalodiscus to vampyrellids is still obscure. Here, I describe Hyalodiscus fla...
Source: Protist - December 7, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Shedding Light on the Polyphyletic Thecate Amoeba Genus Plagiophrys: Transition of Some of its Species to Rhizaspis (Tectofilosida, Thecofilosea, Cercozoa) and the Establishment of Sacciforma gen. nov. and Rhogostomidae fam. nov. (Cryomonadida, Thecofilosea, Cercozoa)
Publication date: Available online 7 December 2016 Source:Protist Author(s): Kenneth Dumack, Hüsna Öztoprak, Lioba Rüger, Michael Bonkowski For over a century testate amoebae have been a favoured group of interest for protistologists, however there is still an endless amount of unanswered questions. The genus Plagiophrys, Claparède and Lachmann 1859, is still one of the unresolved mysteries as it comprises species with high morphological diversity of which no molecular data are available. To shed light on the phylogeny and taxonomy of Plagiophrys we (a) cultured four isolates of three Plagiophrys morphospecies an...
Source: Protist - December 7, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
Description of Phytomonas oxycareni n. sp. from the Salivary Glands of Oxycarenus lavaterae
Publication date: Available online 30 November 2016 Source:Protist Author(s): Emily A. Seward, Jan Votýpka, Petr Kment, Julius Lukeš, Steven Kelly Phytomonas spp. (phytomonads) are a diverse and globally distributed group of unicellular eukaryotes that parasitize a wide range of plants and are transmitted by insect hosts. Here we report the discovery and characterisation of a new species of Phytomonas, named Phytomonas oxycareni n. sp., which was obtained from the salivary glands of the invasive species of true bug Oxycarenus lavaterae (Heteroptera). The new Phytomonas species exhibits a long slender promastigote ...
Source: Protist - November 30, 2016 Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research
