Trichonosema algonquinensis n. sp. (Phylum microsporidia) in Pectinatella magnifica (Bryozoa: phylactolaemata) from Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada.
A new species of microsporidian, Trichonosema algonquinensis, is described from a freshwater bryozoan, Pectinatella magnifica from Ontario, Canada. The parasite develops in epithelial cells and appears as white, spherical masses throughout the tissues. Trichonosema algonquinensis is diplokaryotic, diploblastic and undergoes development in direct contact with the cytoplasm of the host cell. Mature spores are ovoid, tapered at one end, and measure 8.5 +/- 0.3 x 4.4 +/- 0.1 microm. The polar filament is wound in 20 to 23 helical coils. Although the parasite resembles T. pectinatellae described from the same host in Michigan and Ohio, it differs in the length of the spore and number of coils of the polar filament. Analysis of 16S rDNA by maximum likelihood, parsimony and Baysian inference, complements the morphological data in supporting the placement of T. algonquinensis as a sister species of T. pectinatellae.
Desser
Sherwin S
SS
Department of Zoology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, MSS 3G5, Canada. wired@zoo.utoronto.ca
Koehler
Anne
A
Barta
John R
JR
Kamyab
Jubin
J
Ringuette
Maurice J
MJ
D000818:Animals; D002013:Bryozoa / Q000469:parasitology*; D016814:Microsporidia / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010802:Phylogeny