ProtistPub Date : 2024-05-25DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126046
Yoshiaki Iwamoto, Takeshi Nakayama
{"title":"Nannostelium ampullaceum gen. et sp. nov., a tiny new member of the protosteloid amoeba of the Cavosteliida (Variosea, Amoebozoa)","authors":"Yoshiaki Iwamoto, Takeshi Nakayama","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Protosteloid amoebae are slime molds characterized by simple sporocarp comprised only of a stalk and typically single spore. Recent molecular phylogenetic studies showed that protosteloid amoebae are scattered among the Amoebozoa, but most of them belongs to the Variosea. The Cavosteliida is one of the largest protosteloid group of the Variosea. We have established novel protosteloid amoeba strain YIP-63 from the fruiting body of jelly fugus <em>Auricularia</em> sp. The strain YIP-63 is unique to have a tiny sporocarp and amoeba comparing to the other protosteloid species, and trophic amoebae forming both round and branched shape. The molecular phylogenetic analyses based on 18S rRNA gene suggest that YIP-63 represents a novel lineage in the Cavosteliida. Therefore, we propose the new genus and new species for the strain YIP-63 as <em>Nannostelium ampullaceum</em> gen. et sp. nov. We provide morphological and molecular data on this novel protosteloid amoeba.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141175527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-05-23DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126044
S. Bedard , E. Roxborough , E. O’Neill , V. Mangal
{"title":"The biomolecules of Euglena gracilis: Harnessing biology for natural solutions to future problems","authors":"S. Bedard , E. Roxborough , E. O’Neill , V. Mangal","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126044","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126044","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Over the past decade, the autotrophic and heterotrophic protist <em>Euglena gracilis (E. gracilis)</em> has gained popularity across the studies of environmental science, biosynthesis experiments, and nutritional substitutes. The unique physiology and versatile metabolism of <em>E. gracilis</em> have been a recent topic of interest to many researchers who continue to understand the complexity and possibilities of using <em>E</em>. <em>gracilis</em> biomolecule production. In this review, we present a comprehensive representation of recent literature outlining the various uses of biomolecules derived from <em>E. gracilis</em> across the fields of natural product biosynthesis, as a nutritional substitute, and as bioremediation tools. In addition, we highlight effective strategies for altering metabolite production using abiotic stressors and growth conditions. To better understand metabolite biosynthesis and its role in <em>E</em>. <em>gracilis</em>, integrated studies involving genomics, metabolomics, and proteomics should be considered. Together, we show how the ongoing advancements in <em>E</em>. <em>gracilis</em> related research continue to broaden applications in the biosynthetic sector and highlight future works that would strengthen our understanding of overall <em>Euglena</em> metabolism.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1434461024000361/pdfft?md5=944edaf9331dedf9ead23841c8994821&pid=1-s2.0-S1434461024000361-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141145738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-05-12DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126036
Michael Kotyk , Matyáš Soviš , Harley Rose , Nathan Lo , Ivan Čepička , William A. Bourland
{"title":"Reductitherus cryptostomus n. gen., n. sp. (Ciliophora: Armophorea: Clevelandellida), a remarkable new nyctotherid from an Australian cockroach, Parapanesthia gigantea (Blaberidae: Panesthiinae)","authors":"Michael Kotyk , Matyáš Soviš , Harley Rose , Nathan Lo , Ivan Čepička , William A. Bourland","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126036","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ciliates of the family Nyctotheridae (Armophorea: Clevelandellida) are frequent intestinal symbionts of various invertebrates and some poikilotherm vertebrates. Depending on the classification scheme, there are between 15 and 18 recognized genera of Nyctotheridae, the majority of which exhibit a rather uniform morphology. They have round to ellipsoidal cells with an adoral zone of membranelles that begins anteriorly in an adoral groove and continues posteriorly into the buccal cavity where it extends deep into the cell in the peristomial funnel. The taxonomy of the Nyctotheridae is primarily based on the number and location of kinetal sutures. The only known divergence from the relatively conservative nyctortherid body plan are the bizarre symbionts of Panesthiinae cockroaches, ciliates of the family Clevelandellidae, which forms a clade nested within the Nyctotheridae genus <em>Nyctotherus</em>. In this study we report another ciliate that diverges morphologically from the canonical Nyctotheridae body plan, and which is also found in Panesthiinae hosts. The novel ciliate <em>Reductitherus cryptostomus</em> n. gen., n. sp. differs from the rest of Nyctotheridae by absence of the anterior adoral groove, a shortened adoral zone completely enclosed in a notably small buccal cavity, and two strongly reduced kinetal sutures, one left anterodorsal and the other right posterodorsal.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-05-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141049973","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-04-18DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126035
Asma Farjallah, Matthieu Fillion, Céline Guéguen
{"title":"Metabolic responses of Euglena gracilis under photoheterotrophic and heterotrophic conditions","authors":"Asma Farjallah, Matthieu Fillion, Céline Guéguen","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The protist <em>Euglena gracilis</em> has various trophic modes including heterotrophy and photoheterotrophy. To investigate how cultivation mode influences metabolic regulation, the chemical composition of cellular metabolites of <em>Euglena gracilis</em> grown under heterotrophic and photoheterotrophic conditions was monitored from the early exponential phase to the mid-stationary phase using two different techniques, <em>i.e,</em> nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). The combined metabolomics approach allowed an in-depth understanding of the mechanism of photoheterotrophic and heterotrophic growth for biomolecule production. Heterotrophic conditions promoted the production of polar amino and oxygenated compounds such as proteins and polyphenol compounds, especially at the end of the exponential phase while photoheterotrophic cells enhanced the production of organoheterocyclic compounds, carbohydrates, and alkaloids.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140776538","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-03-29DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126034
William Bourland, Ondřej Pomahač, Ivan Čepička
{"title":"Redescription and molecular phylogeny of the freshwater metopid, Castula strelkowi (Jankowski, 1964) from the Czech Republic and synonymization of Pileometopus with Castula","authors":"William Bourland, Ondřej Pomahač, Ivan Čepička","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The relationships of the mainly free living, obligately anaerobic ciliated protists belonging to order Metopida continue to be clarified and now comprise three families: Metopidae, Tropidoatractidae, and Apometopidae. The most species-rich genus of the Metopidae, <em>Metopus</em> has undergone considerable subdivision into new genera in recent years as more taxa are characterized by modern morphologic and molecular methods. The genus, <em>Castula</em>, was established to accommodate setae-bearing species previously assigned to <em>Metopus</em>: <em>C. setosa</em> and <em>C. fusca</em>, and one new species, <em>C. flexibilis</em>. Another new species, <em>C. specialis</em>, has been added since. Here we redescribe another species previously included in <em>Metopus</em>, using morphologic and molecular methods, and transfer it to <em>Castula</em> as <em>C. strelkowi</em> n. comb. (original combination <em>Metopus strelkowi</em>). We also reassess the monotypic genus, <em>Pileometopus</em>, which nests within the strongly supported <em>Castula</em> clade in 18S rRNA gene trees and conclude that it represents a morphologically divergent species of <em>Castula.</em></p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140342576","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Circular extrachromosomal DNA in Euglena gracilis under normal and stress conditions","authors":"Natalia Gumińska , Paweł Hałakuc , Bożena Zakryś , Rafał Milanowski","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126033","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) enhances genomic plasticity, augmenting its coding and regulatory potential. Advances in high-throughput sequencing have enabled the investigation of these structural variants. Although eccDNAs have been investigated in numerous taxa, they remained understudied in euglenids. Therefore, we examined eccDNAs predicted from Illumina sequencing data of <em>Euglena gracilis</em> Z SAG 1224–5/25, grown under optimal photoperiod and exposed to UV irradiation. We identified approximately 1000 unique eccDNA candidates, about 20% of which were shared across conditions. We also observed a significant enrichment of mitochondrially encoded eccDNA in the UV-irradiated sample. Furthermore, we found that the heterogeneity of eccDNA was reduced in UV-exposed samples compared to cells that were grown in optimal conditions. Hence, eccDNA appears to play a role in the response to oxidative stress in <em>Euglena</em>, as it does in other studied organisms. In addition to contributing to the understanding of <em>Euglena</em> genomes, our results contribute to the validation of bioinformatics pipelines on a large, non-model genome.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140342644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-03-04DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126024
Katarzyna Jankowska, Maja Łukomska-Kowalczyk, Rafał Milanowski, Alicja Fells, Bożena Zakryś
{"title":"Biodiversity of autotrophic euglenids based on the group specific DNA metabarcoding approach","authors":"Katarzyna Jankowska, Maja Łukomska-Kowalczyk, Rafał Milanowski, Alicja Fells, Bożena Zakryś","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126024","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126024","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study reports a comprehensive analysis of photoautotrophic euglenids’ distribution and biodiversity in 16 small water bodies of various types (including fish ponds, field ponds, rural ponds and park ponds) located in three regions of Poland: Masovia, Masuria and Pomerania during a period of three years. By employing a euglenid specific barcode marker and a curated database of V2 18S rDNA sequences it was possible to identify 97.7 % of euglenid reads at species level. A total of 152 species classified in 13 genera were identified. The number of euglenid species found in one pond varied from 40 to 102. The most common species were <em>Euglena agilis</em> and <em>Euglenaria caudata</em>, found in every analysed waterbody. The highest number of observed species belonged to <em>Trachelomonas</em> and <em>Phacus</em>. Certain species exhibited a tendency to coexist, suggesting the presence of distinct species assemblages. Among them, the most distinctive cluster was associated with water bodies located in the Masuria region, characterized also by the greatest species richness, including many very rare species: <em>Euglenaformis chlorophoenicea, Lepocinclis autumnalis, L. marssonii, Trachelomonas eurystoma, T. manschurica, T. mucosa, T. zuberi, T. zuberi</em> var. <em>nepos</em>.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140042540","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-02-10DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023
Oleg N. Shchepin , Ángela López Villalba , Maho Inoue , Ilya S. Prikhodko , Daria A. Erastova , Mikhail V. Okun , Jan Woyzichovski , Yuka Yajima , Vladimir I. Gmoshinskiy , Gabriel Moreno , Yuri K. Novozhilov , Martin Schnittler
{"title":"DNA barcodes reliably differentiate between nivicolous species of Diderma (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa) and reveal regional differences within Eurasia","authors":"Oleg N. Shchepin , Ángela López Villalba , Maho Inoue , Ilya S. Prikhodko , Daria A. Erastova , Mikhail V. Okun , Jan Woyzichovski , Yuka Yajima , Vladimir I. Gmoshinskiy , Gabriel Moreno , Yuri K. Novozhilov , Martin Schnittler","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The nivicolous species of the genus <em>Diderma</em> are challenging to identify, and there are several competing views on their delimitation. We analyzed 102 accessions of nivicolous <em>Diderma</em> spp. that were sequenced for two or three unlinked genes to determine which of the current taxonomic treatments is better supported by molecular species delimitation methods. The results of a haplotype web analysis, Bayesian species delimitation under a multispecies coalescent model, and phylogenetic analyses on concatenated alignments support a splitting approach that distinguishes six taxa: <em>Diderma alpinum</em>, <em>D. europaeum</em>, <em>D. kamchaticum, D. meyerae</em>, <em>D. microcarpum</em> and <em>D. niveum</em>. The first two approaches also support the separation of <em>Diderma alpinum</em> into two species with allopatric distribution. An extended dataset of 800 specimens (mainly from Europe) that were barcoded with 18S rDNA revealed only barcode variants similar to those in the species characterized by the first data set, and showed an uneven distribution of these species in the Northern Hemisphere: <em>Diderma microcarpum</em> and <em>D. alpinum</em> were the only species found in all seven intensively sampled mountain regions. Partial 18S rDNA sequences serving as DNA barcodes provided clear signatures that allowed for unambiguous identification of the nivicolous <em>Diderma</em> spp., including two putative species in <em>D. alpinum</em>.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1434461024000154/pdfft?md5=7ee7d07adf4a2e18d8399420d4c56b23&pid=1-s2.0-S1434461024000154-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139875266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-02-07DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126022
Alexis Escarcega-Bata , María Luisa Núñez Resendiz , María Eugenia Zamudio-Resendiz , Kurt M. Dreckmann , Estefany Cuevas Sánchez , Abel Sentíes
{"title":"Morpho-molecular and environmental evidence of the ocurrence of Karenia longicanalis (Dinophyceae: Kareniaceae) as a bloom former in the Eastern Pacific Ocean","authors":"Alexis Escarcega-Bata , María Luisa Núñez Resendiz , María Eugenia Zamudio-Resendiz , Kurt M. Dreckmann , Estefany Cuevas Sánchez , Abel Sentíes","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126022","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>Karenia longicanalis</em>, an athecate dinoflagellate, was first described during a bloom in Victoria Harbour (Hong Kong, China). This study confirms the presence of <em>K. longicanalis</em> as a bloom former in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Specimens were collected in March 2019 at three sampling stations in Acapulco Bay, Mexico. Water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and pH were measured in situ at the time of sample collection. Cell morphology was examined by optical and scanning electron microscopy. A molecular analysis based on the amplification of the large subunit (LSU) rDNA region revealed that the LSU sequences formed a monophyletic group with other GenBank sequences belonging to <em>K. longicanalis</em>. The resulting phylogeny demonstrates that <em>Karenia</em> is closely related to <em>Asterodinium</em>, <em>Gertia</em>, and <em>Shimiella</em>. The morphology of the specimens was consistent with previous descriptions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139718640","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ProtistPub Date : 2024-02-01DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023
O. Shchepin, Á. López-Villalba, Maho Inoue, I. Prikhodko, D. A. Erastova, M. Okun, Jan Woyzichovski, Yuka Yajima, V. Gmoshinskiy, Gabriel Moreno, Y. Novozhilov, M. Schnittler
{"title":"DNA barcodes reliably differentiate between nivicolous species of Diderma (Myxomycetes, Amoebozoa) and reveal regional differences within Eurasia","authors":"O. Shchepin, Á. López-Villalba, Maho Inoue, I. Prikhodko, D. A. Erastova, M. Okun, Jan Woyzichovski, Yuka Yajima, V. Gmoshinskiy, Gabriel Moreno, Y. Novozhilov, M. Schnittler","doi":"10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.protis.2024.126023","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20781,"journal":{"name":"Protist","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139815644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}