Monadofilosa

Proleptomonas faecicola is a heterotrophic, soil-inhabiting flagellate from the group of Cercozoa. He is the only species of the genus Proleptomonas and is in uncertain position mapped to the root Cercozoa.

Features

Proleptomonas is a free-living, unicellular flagellate and resembles the Cercomonadida. The cell surface is naked. He has a long, anterior flagellum and a short, posterior flagellum, which is applied to the cell body. The cell is cigar-shaped elongated in a length of 7 to 12 microns and a width of 1.5 to 3 microns. The long flagellum is 14 to 29 microns long and sets apically on. The posterior flagellum is as long as the cell body. The movement is very rapid, the body vibrates quickly around its own center.

The food is not done by Phagotrophie, but by endocytosis via coated pits. The nucleus is located in the cell center at a large distance from the Kinetid. This form microtubules, which form a structure similar to the microtubule- away cone of Cercomonadidae. Extrusomen missing in Proleptomonas. The mitochondria have tubular cristae.

The flagellated stages not be divided. Cell division takes place in the cyst stage, which is round and has a diameter of 6-9 microns. Within the cell wall of the cyst cell divisions take place one or more so that two to eight daughter cells.

System

Proleptomonas faecicola was originally considered wild kinetoplast. Later, the species was found to Cercomonadidae. If, however, already morphologically very different from this: it has no Extrusomen, no Microbody and does not form pseudopodia. For the Cercomonaden lack the reproductive cysts. To-follow Molecular Genetics studies, they are not part of Cercomonadidae, but rather are the sister group to Heteromita. Adl et al. as well Mylnikov and Karpov incertae sedis they represent in the Cercozoa. In some works, they are part of Heteromitidae.

Documents

• Alexander P. Mylnikov, Serguei A. Karpov: Review of diversity and taxonomy of cercomonads. Protistology, Volume 3, 2004, pp. 201-217. ISSN 1680-0826