Abeoforma whisleri

Abeoforma whisleri
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
(unranked):	Opisthokonta
(unranked):	Holozoa
Class:	Ichthyosporea
Order:	Ichthyophonida
Genus:
Species:	A. whisleri
Binomial name
	Abeoforma whisleri; Marshall, 2008

Abeoforma whisleri is a single-celled eukaryote that belongs to the Ichthyosporea clade, a group of protists closely related to animals.

A. whisleri was isolated from the digestive tract of a marine invertebrate, specifically the filter-feeding mussel Mytilus sp^[1]. A. whisleri has a very complex life-cycle, yet to be resolved. It includes several different cell stages, ranging from amoebodial, hyphal-like and plasmodial stages, which can present filopodia-like (pseudopodia) structures. They also present coenocytic spherical stages with prominent vacuoles and several nuclei. All of those stages undergo dramatic morphological changes and have a cell wall (except for the amoeboid stage).

Taxonomy[]

A. whisleri is a member of the Ichthyosporea clade, within the Teretosporea, which is the earliest branching holozoan lineage.^[2]^[3]

Applications[]

Colony of Abeoforma whisleri stained with Hoechst

A. whisleri can easily be cultured axenically in marine broth medium. Given its phylogenetic position as a close unicellular relative of animals and its high capacity to modify cell morphology, A. whisleri could potentially provide important insights both into the origin of multicellular animals and into the control of cell shape in eukaryotes.

References[]

^ Marshall, Wyth L.; Berbee, Mary L. (2011-01-01). "Facing Unknowns: Living Cultures (Pirum gemmata gen. nov., sp. nov., and Abeoforma whisleri, gen. nov., sp. nov.) from Invertebrate Digestive Tracts Represent an Undescribed Clade within the Unicellular Opisthokont Lineage Ichthyosporea (Mesomycetozoea)". Protist. 162 (1): 33–57. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2010.06.002. PMID 20708961.
^ Glockling, Sally L.; Marshall, Wyth L.; Gleason, Frank H. (2013-08-01). "Phylogenetic interpretations and ecological potentials of the Mesomycetozoea (Ichthyosporea)". Fungal Ecology. 6 (4): 237–247. doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2013.03.005.
^ Torruella, Guifré; Mendoza, Alex de; Grau-Bové, Xavier; Antó, Meritxell; Chaplin, Mark A.; Campo, Javier del; Eme, Laura; Pérez-Cordón, Gregorio; Whipps, Christopher M. (2015). "Phylogenomics Reveals Convergent Evolution of Lifestyles in Close Relatives of Animals and Fungi". Current Biology. 25 (18): 2404–2410. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.07.053. PMID 26365255.

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[1] Marshall, Wyth L.; Berbee, Mary L. (2011-01-01). "Facing Unknowns: Living Cultures (Pirum gemmata gen. nov., sp. nov., and Abeoforma whisleri, gen. nov., sp. nov.) from Invertebrate Digestive Tracts Represent an Undescribed Clade within the Unicellular Opisthokont Lineage Ichthyosporea (Mesomycetozoea)". Protist. 162 (1): 33–57. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2010.06.002. PMID 20708961.

[2] Glockling, Sally L.; Marshall, Wyth L.; Gleason, Frank H. (2013-08-01). "Phylogenetic interpretations and ecological potentials of the Mesomycetozoea (Ichthyosporea)". Fungal Ecology. 6 (4): 237–247. doi:10.1016/j.funeco.2013.03.005.

[3] Torruella, Guifré; Mendoza, Alex de; Grau-Bové, Xavier; Antó, Meritxell; Chaplin, Mark A.; Campo, Javier del; Eme, Laura; Pérez-Cordón, Gregorio; Whipps, Christopher M. (2015). "Phylogenomics Reveals Convergent Evolution of Lifestyles in Close Relatives of Animals and Fungi". Current Biology. 25 (18): 2404–2410. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.07.053. PMID 26365255.

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