title: Molecular and morphological diversity of the genus Hypotrichomonas (Parabasalia: Hypotrichomonadida), with descriptions of six new species.
abstract: The genus HypotrichomonasLee, 1960 belongs to the small parabasalian class Hypotrichomonadea. Although five Hypotrichomonas species have been described from intestines of lizards and birds, some descriptions were brief and incomplete. Only the type species H. acosta has been observed repeatedly. We have established 23 strains of the genus Hypotrichomonas in culture. Phylogenetic and morphological analyses showed that these isolates represent eight distinct species, six of which are novel. Three of the species showed unusual morphology, such as a reduced undulating membrane, absence of the free part of the recurrent flagellum or a costa-like fiber. Our strains were isolated from a wide range of hosts including cockroaches, frogs, tortoises, lizards, snakes, marsupials, pigs, rodents, and primates. The genus Hypotrichomonas thus contains a relatively large number of species that differ in morphology, phylogenetic position and host range. It is remarkable that such diversity of hypotrichomonads was previously undetected, although a number of studies dealt with intestinal trichomonads of vertebrates and invertebrates. Our results indicate that the diversity of the genus Hypotrichomonas as well as of the whole Parabasalia is still only poorly understood, and the lineages described so far likely represent only a small fraction of the true diversity of parabasalids.
authors: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors: Vít
authors: V
authors: Céza
authors: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors: Tomáš
authors: T
authors: Pánek
authors: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic; Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic.
authors: Pavla
authors: P
authors: Smejkalová
authors: Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Vinicna 7, Prague 2, Czech Republic. Electronic address: ivan.cepicka@centrum.cz.
authors: Ivan
authors: I
authors: Čepička
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D056900:Parabasalidea / Q000145:classification / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S
keywords: Diversity; Morphology; New species; Parabasalia; Phylogeny; Trichomonads