Barthelona is a genus of anaerobic protists. They are basal eukaryotes closely related to skoliomonads, within the phylum Metamonada. It is a monotypic genus containing the sole species Barthelona vulgaris. Members of this genus are informally known as barthelonids.
| Barthelona | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Phylum: | Metamonada |
| Genus: | Barthelona Bernard, Simpson & Patterson, 2000[1] |
| Species: | B. vulgaris
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| Binomial name | |
| Barthelona vulgaris Bernard, Simpson & Patterson, 2000
| |
Description
editBarthelonids are flagellates, unicellular protists (a type of eukaryote) that use flagella for movement. Their cells measure 6–8 μm in length, and are oval on the dorsal side and flattened on the ventral side. Each cell has two flagella inserted sub-apically and laterally, at an angle of 60° from each other. The anterior flagellum is 1–2 times the cell length, while the posterior flagellum is 3–5 times as large as the cell body, and is slightly acronematic. The nucleus is located in the anterior end of the cell. The cytoplasm usually contains refractile granules.[1]
Barthelonids are free-living solitary heterotrophs. They swim or, more rarely, glide slowly. When stationary, they still beat their flagella with a gentle undulation.[1]
Taxonomy
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| Cladogram of skoliomonads based on a SSU rRNA phylogeny published in 2024.[2] |
The genus Barthelona was described by protistologists Catherine Bernard, Alastair G.B. Simpson, and David J. Patterson. They isolated flagellates from sediments of Quibray Bay, Australia in the spring of 1996. After observing the microorganisms, the authors assigned them to a new species Barthelona vulgaris and published the description in 2000.[1] Since the identification of B. vulgaris was purely based on observations under light microscopy, it was treated as a morphospecies. This morphospecies was later identified at other geographical locations, but it was never genetically sequenced, and consequently its evolutionary position remained uncertain. In 2020, five strains of Barthelona were isolated and genetically sequenced in order to reveal their phylogenetic position. They form a clade informally known as "barthelonids", resolved as the sister group to the Fornicata within the phylum Metamonada.[3]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ a b c d Bernard, Simpson & Patterson 2000, p. 136.
- ^ Eglit et al. 2024, p. 7.
- ^ Yazaki et al. 2020.
Cited literature
edit- Bernard, Catherine; Simpson, Alastair G.B.; Patterson, David J. (May 2000). "Some free-living flagellates (Protista) from anoxic habitats". Ophelia. 52 (2): 113–142. doi:10.1080/00785236.1999.10409422.
- Eglit, Yana; Williams, Shelby K.; Roger, Andrew J.; Simpson, Alastair G.B. (3 September 2024). "Characterization of Skoliomonas gen. nov., a haloalkaliphilic anaerobe related to barthelonids (Metamonada)". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 00 (early view): e13048. doi:10.1111/jeu.13048. PMID 39225178.
- Yazaki, Euki; Kume, Keitaro; Shiratori, Takashi; Eglit, Yana; Tanifuji, Goro; Harada, Ryo; Simpson, Alastair G.B.; Ishida, Ken-Ichiro; Hashimoto, Tetsuo; Inagaki, Yuji (2 September 2020). "Barthelonids represent a deep-branching metamonad clade with mitochondrion-related organelles predicted to generate no ATP". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 287: 20201538. doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.1538. PMC 7542792.