Cholamonas

Cholamonas cyrtodiopsidis is a flagellate from the group of Cercomonadida. It is the only species of the genus Cholamonas and lives in the digestive tract of stalk -eyed flies.

Features

Cholamonas it is the only representative of the Cercomonadida four flagella: two long (one to 1.5 times the body length) and two short. Set at the subapical cells. The short flagella have very short Axonemata, which consist of nine single microtubules.

The cells are 5-8 microns long and 2-5 microns wide. They have no cell wall and a cell core, which is in close contact with the basal bodies. Before the cell nucleus are dictyosomes, behind him a reticulated, paranukleärer body ( Micro Body ). In the cytoplasm, two types are refractile granules that match the " mushroom- like bodies " of Katabia.

The cells possess the trophic state in the longitudinal direction in the cell periphery arranged mitochondria. These have cristae tube type. Contractile vacuoles are unknown. The Kinetiden have one or more rearward composite roots; We also provide an microtubule cone around the nucleus absent. Kinetide each consists of two symmetrical subunits, each having two basal body. With the basal bodies other fibers and ribbons are associated.

Pseudopodia are only briefly formed in the rear cell area at the time of food intake.

Lifestyle and diet

Cholamonas lives as the sole representative of the Cercomonadida endobiotisch in the digestive tract of a stalk -eyed flies - kind. Here they feed on yeasts, which are received by the rapid formation of pseudopodia.

System

The genus is made due to some ultrastructural features in the order of Cercomonadida: the presence of a Micro Body and Kinetid structure. The lack of a microtubule- cone and the only intermittently formation of pseudopodia they could of the genus Heteromita are close to and is therefore placed in the Heteromitidae family.

The genus was neither in the molecular genetic study of Cercozoa of Cavalier -Smith and Chao nor by Bass et al. included.

Documents

• Alexander P. Mylnikov, Serguei A. Karpov: Review of diversity and taxonomy of cercomonads. Protistology, Volume 3, 2004, pp. 201-217. ISSN 1680-0826
• Martin Flaven, Charles J. O'Kelly, Thomas A. Nerad, Gerald Wilkinson: Cholamonas cyrtodiopsidis Gen. n, sp. n ( Cercomonadida ) on endo- commensal, Mycophagous Heterotrophic flagellate with a Doubled Kinetid. Protozoologica Acta, Volume 39, 2000, pp. 51ff.