title: Description of Colponema vietnamica sp.n. and Acavomonas peruviana n. gen. n. sp., two new alveolate phyla (Colponemidia nom. nov. and Acavomonidia nom. nov.) and their contributions to reconstructing the ancestral state of alveolates and eukaryotes.
abstract: The evolutionary and ecological importance of predatory flagellates are too often overlooked. This is not only a gap in our understanding of microbial diversity, but also impacts how we interpret their better-studied relatives. A prime example of these problems is found in the alveolates. All well-studied species belong to three large clades (apicomplexans, dinoflagellates, and ciliates), but the predatory colponemid flagellates are also alveolates that are rare in nature and seldom cultured, but potentially important to our understanding of alveolate evolution. Recently we reported the first cultivation and molecular analysis of several colponemid-like organisms representing two novel clades in molecular trees. Here we provide ultrastructural analysis and formal species descriptions for both new species, Colponema vietnamica n. sp. and Acavomonas peruviana n. gen. n. sp. Morphological and feeding characteristics concur with molecular data that both species are distinct members of alveolates, with Acavomonas lacking the longitudinal phagocytotic groove, a defining feature of Colponema. Based on ultrastructure and molecular phylogenies, which both provide concrete rationale for a taxonomic reclassification of Alveolata, we establish the new phyla Colponemidia nom. nov. for the genus Colponema and its close relatives, and Acavomonidia nom. nov. for the genus Acavomonas and its close relatives. The morphological data presented here suggests that colponemids are central to our understanding of early alveolate evolution, and suggest they also retain features of the common ancestor of all eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Botany Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok, Yaroslavl Provence, Russia.
authors.forename: Denis V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Tikhonenkov
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Botany Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Janouškovec
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biology of Inland Waters, Russian Academy of Sciences, Borok, Yaroslavl Provence, Russia.
authors.forename: Alexander P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Mylnikov
authors.affiliation: Belozersky Institute for Physicochemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Kirill V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Mikhailov
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Timur G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Simdyanov
authors.affiliation: Belozersky Institute for Physicochemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: Vladimir V
authors.initials: VV
authors.lastname: Aleoshin
authors.affiliation: Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Botany Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Keeling
mesh_terms: D056893:Alveolata / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005075:Biological Evolution; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics*; D010568:Peru; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics*; D012426:Russia; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012987:Soil / Q000469:parasitology; D014744:Vietnam
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S; D012987:Soil
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