The nucleariid amoebae: more protists at the animal-fungal boundary.
Nucleariid amoebae are naked amoebae, generally characterized by a spherical or sometimes flattened body with radiating filopodia. Most species preferentially consume algal prey or cyanobacteria. Phylogenetic analyses of the small-subunit rRNA coding regions from four nucleariid amoebae place these species near the origin of the animal-fungal divergence, together with the choanoflagellate-Corallochytrium and the ichthyosporean clades. The species Nuclearia delicatula, N. moebiusi, and N. simplex form a monophyletic group, while ATCC 30864, tentatively but possibly incorrectly assigned to Nuclearia sp., represents a separate line of descent. These nucleariids are unrelated to the lineage containing the testate filose amoebae (Testaceafilosia). Our findings expand the morphological and phylogenetic diversity of protists at the animal-fungal divergence.
Zettler LAA
The Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA.
Nerad
T A
TA
O'Kelly
C J
CJ
Sogin
M L
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D000656:Amoeba / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012335:RNA, Ribosomal