Commation is a genus of marine heterotrophic protists closely related to the actinophryids. It contains two species, Commation cryoporinum and Commation eposianum, discovered in antarctic waters and described in 1993.[1] Currently, the genus is classified within a monotypic family Commatiidae and order Commatiida.[2] Along with the photosynthetic raphidophytes, these organisms compose the class of stramenopiles known as Raphidomonadea.[4]
| Commation | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Stramenopiles |
| Phylum: | Gyrista |
| Subphylum: | Ochrophytina |
| Superclass: | Raphidoistia |
| Class: | Raphidomonadea |
| Subclass: | Raphopoda |
| Order: | Commatiida Cavalier-Smith, 1997[3] |
| Family: | Commatiidae Cavalier-Smith & Scoble, 2013[2] |
| Genus: | Commation Thomsen & Larsen, 1993[1] |
| Type species | |
| Commation eposianum Thomsen & Larsen, 1993[1]
| |
| Species[1] | |
Etymology
editThe name of the genus, Commation, derives from Latin comma, referring to the overall comma shape of the biconvex cells.[1][2]
Morphology
editCommation is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes. They are solitary planktonic organisms that live as circular or oval, sometimes flattened, cells with a proboscis. Occasionally, a single flagellum with tripartite hairs (or mastigonemes) emerges from the proximity of the proboscis. They predominantly move by gliding, a motion facilitated by excretion of mucus. The cell nucleus appears at the base of the proboscis. The presence of two flagellar basal bodies hints at their stramenopile origin, since two heterokont flagella (one smooth, one with mastigonemes) are the main distinguishing trait of the Stramenopiles. They also present microtubular roots and a striated root or rhizoplast, a fiber connecting the nucleus to the basal bodies.[1]
The mitochondria of Commation species have tubular cristae. One or more types of extrusomes occur scattered throughout the cytoplasm. One species, C. cryoporinum, presents two types of extrusomes, some of them visible under light microscopy when large enough. The other species, C. eposianum, only contains one type of extrusome that is not visible.[1] The complex cytoskeleton of Commation contains structures consisting of microtubular arrays and electron-dense structures, present in both the cell bodies and proboscis.[1]
Ecology
editCommation cells are phagotrophic and non-photosynthetic,[1] unlike their raphidophyte relatives.[2] They live as plankton on the Antarctic Ocean, and were obtained at a depth of 10–20 meters. A single cell similar to C.eposianum was found in a cover slip preparation belonging to a 1989 sample obtained from a Pacific Ocean cruise off California, indicating that the genus Commation may not be endemic to the Antarctic region.[1] Despite being heterotrophic, they are classified as part of the phytoplankton in ecological surveys.[5]
Systematics
editCommation was described as a genus by two biologists of the University of Copenhagen, Helge Abildhauge Thomsen and Jacob Larsen. The description was published in 1993 on the European Journal of Protistology.[1] Subsequent taxonomic research papers assigned Commation to a monotypic family Commatiidae[2] and order Commatiida. The order Commatiida was initially assigned to the class Jacobea on the basis of branched tubular mitochondrial cristae.[3] Phylogenetic analyses in 2013 demonstrated that both Commation and a group of heliozoa known as Actinophryida were related to the raphidophyte algae. The first two groups, while heterotrophic, were united in the subclass Raphopoda, while the raphidophyte algae were given their own subclass Raphidophycidae. Together, these two subclasses currently compose the class Raphidomonadea.[4]
Species
editTwo species have been described:[1]
- Commation cryoporinum Thomsen & Larsen, 1993
- Commation eposianum Thomsen & Larsen, 1993
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Helge Abildhauge Thomsen; Jacob Larsen (12 November 1993). "The ultrastructure of Commation gen. nov. (Stramenopiles incertae sedis), a genus of heterotrophic nanoplanktonic flagellates from antarctic waters". European Journal of Protistology. 29 (4): 462–477. doi:10.1016/S0932-4739(11)80409-8.
- ^ a b c d e Cavalier-Smith, Thomas; Scoble, Josephine Margaret (2013). "Phylogeny of Heterokonta: Incisomonas marina, a uniciliate gliding opalozoan related to Solenicola (Nanomonadea), and evidence that Actinophryida evolved from raphidophytes". European Journal of Protistology. 49 (3): 328–353. doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2012.09.002. PMID 23219323.
- ^ a b Thomas Cavalier-Smith (April 1997). "Amoeboflagellates and mitochondrial cristae in eukaryote evolution: megasystematics of the new protozoan subkingdoms eozoa and neozoa". Archiv für Protistenkunde. 147 (3–4): 237–258. doi:10.1016/S0003-9365(97)80051-6.
- ^ a b Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (January 2018). "Kingdom Chromista and its eight phyla: a new synthesis emphasising periplastid protein targeting, cytoskeletal and periplastid evolution, and ancient divergences". Protoplasma. 255 (1): 297–357. doi:10.1007/s00709-017-1147-3. PMC 5756292. PMID 28875267.
- ^ Martin, Jennifer L.; LeGresley, Murielle M. (2008). "New phytoplankton species in the Bay of Fundy since 1995". ICES Journal of Marine Science. 65 (5): 759–764. doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn022.