Blepharismidae is a family of unicellular ciliate protists found in fresh and salt water. Two genera are recognized: Blepharisma, which contains some model organisms, and Pseudoblepharisma (monotypic in most sources)[1][2]

Blepharismidae
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Clade: Diaphoretickes
Clade: SAR
Clade: Alveolata
Phylum: Ciliophora
Class: Heterotrichea
Order: Heterotrichida
Family: Blepharismidae
Jankowski in Small & Lynn, 1985
Species[1]

Parablepharisma was part of the family, but more careful inspection (morphological and molecular) has placed it in a separate class distinct from the heterotrichs.[3] Acquisition of ribosomal sequences from Pseudoblepharisma in 2021 and 2022 also produces phylogenetic results incongruent with current taxonomy, instead placing the genus sister to Spirostomum.[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Blepharismidae". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 12 August 2022.
  2. ^ Chi, Yong; Chen, Xiangrui; Li, Yuqing; Wang, Chundi; Zhang, Tengteng; Ayoub, Alex; Warren, Alan; Song, Weibo; Wang, Yuanyuan (1 April 2021). "New contributions to the phylogeny of the ciliate class Heterotrichea (Protista, Ciliophora): analyses at family-genus level and new evolutionary hypotheses". Science China Life Sciences. 64 (4): 606–620. doi:10.1007/s11427-020-1817-5. PMID 33068287. S2CID 223558791.
  3. ^ Campello-Nunes, Pedro H.; Fernandes, Noemi M.; Szokoli, Franziska; Fokin, Sergei I.; Serra, Valentina; Modeo, Letizia; Petroni, Giulio; Soares, Carlos A. G.; Paiva, Thiago da S.; Silva-Neto, Inácio D. da (2020-04-01). "Parablepharisma (Ciliophora) is not a Heterotrich: A Phylogenetic and Morphological Study with the Proposal of New Taxa". Protist. 171 (2): 125716. doi:10.1016/j.protis.2020.125716. ISSN 1434-4610. PMID 32086115. S2CID 211246127.
  4. ^ Muñoz-Gómez, SA; Kreutz, M; Hess, S (June 2021). "A microbial eukaryote with a unique combination of purple bacteria and green algae as endosymbionts". Science Advances. 7 (24). Bibcode:2021SciA....7.4102M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg4102. PMC 8195481. PMID 34117067.