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Gile GH. Protist symbionts of termites: diversity, distribution, and coevolution. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2024; 99:622-652. [PMID: 38105542 DOI: 10.1111/brv.13038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
The symbiosis between termites and their hindgut protists is mutually obligate and vertically inherited. It was established by the late Jurassic in the cockroach ancestors of termites as they transitioned to wood feeding. Since then, protist symbionts have been transmitted from host generation to host generation by proctodeal trophallaxis (anal feeding). The protists belong to multiple lineages within the eukaryotic superphylum Metamonada. Most of these lineages have evolved large cells with complex morphology, unlike the non-termite-associated Metamonada. The species richness and taxonomic composition of symbiotic protist communities varies widely across termite lineages, especially within the deep-branching clade Teletisoptera. In general, closely related termites tend to harbour closely related protists, and deep-branching termites tend to harbour deep-branching protists, reflecting their broad-scale co-diversification. A closer view, however, reveals a complex distribution of protist lineages across hosts. Some protist taxa are common, some are rare, some are widespread, and some are restricted to a single host family or genus. Some protist taxa can be found in only a few, distantly related, host species. Thus, the long history of co-diversification in this symbiosis has been complicated by lineage-specific loss of symbionts, transfer of symbionts from one host lineage to another, and by independent diversification of the symbionts relative to their hosts. This review aims to introduce the biology of this important symbiosis and serve as a gateway to the diversity and systematics literature for both termites and protists. A searchable database with all termite-protist occurrence records and taxonomic references is provided as a supplementary file to encourage and facilitate new research in this field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gillian H Gile
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
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2
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Lukeš J, Čepička I, Kolísko M. Evolution: No end in sight for novel incredible (heterotrophic) protists. Curr Biol 2024; 34:R55-R58. [PMID: 38262358 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.10.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2024]
Abstract
The microbial eukaryotes known as protists are of immense importance for our understanding of eukaryotic biology. Although it is often difficult to convince funding bodies to sponsor research projects aimed at finding new protist lineages, such discoveries usually provide new and fundamental insights into cell and evolutionary biology, and ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 37005 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Sciences, Charles University, 12800 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Kolísko
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, and Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 37005 České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
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3
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Novák LVF, Treitli SC, Pyrih J, Hałakuc P, Pipaliya SV, Vacek V, Brzoň O, Soukal P, Eme L, Dacks JB, Karnkowska A, Eliáš M, Hampl V. Genomics of Preaxostyla Flagellates Illuminates the Path Towards the Loss of Mitochondria. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1011050. [PMID: 38060519 PMCID: PMC10703272 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The notion that mitochondria cannot be lost was shattered with the report of an oxymonad Monocercomonoides exilis, the first eukaryote arguably without any mitochondrion. Yet, questions remain about whether this extends beyond the single species and how this transition took place. The Oxymonadida is a group of gut endobionts taxonomically housed in the Preaxostyla which also contains free-living flagellates of the genera Trimastix and Paratrimastix. The latter two taxa harbour conspicuous mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs). Here we report high-quality genome and transcriptome assemblies of two Preaxostyla representatives, the free-living Paratrimastix pyriformis and the oxymonad Blattamonas nauphoetae. We performed thorough comparisons among all available genomic and transcriptomic data of Preaxostyla to further decipher the evolutionary changes towards amitochondriality, endobiosis, and unstacked Golgi. Our results provide insights into the metabolic and endomembrane evolution, but most strikingly the data confirm the complete loss of mitochondria for all three oxymonad species investigated (M. exilis, B. nauphoetae, and Streblomastix strix), suggesting the amitochondriate status is common to a large part if not the whole group of Oxymonadida. This observation moves this unique loss to 100 MYA when oxymonad lineage diversified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukáš V. F. Novák
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
- Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS, Unité Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes Marins Profonds BEEP, IUEM, Plouzané, France
| | - Sebastian C. Treitli
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
- RG Insect Gut Microbiology and Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Jan Pyrih
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Paweł Hałakuc
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Shweta V. Pipaliya
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vojtěch Vacek
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Brzoň
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Soukal
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Laura Eme
- Ecology, Systematics, and Evolution Unit, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Orsay, France
| | - Joel B. Dacks
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marek Eliáš
- University of Ostrava, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology and Ecology, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
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4
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Vargová R, Hanousková P, Salamonová J, Žihala D, Silberman JD, Eliáš M, Čepička I. Evidence for an Independent Hydrogenosome-to-Mitosome Transition in the CL3 Lineage of Fornicates. Front Microbiol 2022; 13:866459. [PMID: 35663895 PMCID: PMC9161772 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.866459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Fornicata, a lineage of a broader and ancient anaerobic eukaryotic clade Metamonada, contains diverse taxa that are ideally suited for evolutionary studies addressing various fundamental biological questions, such as the evolutionary trajectory of mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs), the transition between free-living and endobiotic lifestyles, and the derivation of alternative genetic codes. To this end, we conducted detailed microscopic and transcriptome analyses in a poorly documented strain of an anaerobic free-living marine flagellate, PCS, in the so-called CL3 fornicate lineage. Fortuitously, we discovered that the original culture contained two morphologically similar and closely related CL3 representatives, which doubles the taxon representation within this lineage. We obtained a monoeukaryotic culture of one of them and formally describe it as a new member of the family Caviomonadidae, Euthynema mutabile gen. et sp. nov. In contrast to previously studied caviomonads, the endobiotic Caviomonas mobilis and Iotanema spirale, E. mutabile possesses an ultrastructurally discernible MRO. We sequenced and assembled the transcriptome of E. mutabile, and by sequence subtraction, obtained transcriptome data from the other CL3 clade representative present in the original PCS culture, denoted PCS-ghost. Transcriptome analyses showed that the reassignment of only one of the UAR stop codons to encode Gln previously reported from I. spirale does not extend to its free-living relatives and is likely due to a unique amino acid substitution in I. spirale’s eRF1 protein domain responsible for termination codon recognition. The backbone fornicate phylogeny was robustly resolved in a phylogenomic analysis, with the CL3 clade amongst the earliest branching lineages. Metabolic and MRO functional reconstructions of CL3 clade members revealed that all three, including I. spirale, encode homologs of key components of the mitochondrial protein import apparatus and the ISC pathway, indicating the presence of a MRO in all of them. In silico evidence indicates that the organelles of E. mutabile and PCS-ghost host ATP and H2 production, unlike the cryptic MRO of I. spirale. These data suggest that the CL3 clade has experienced a hydrogenosome-to-mitosome transition independent from that previously documented for the lineage leading to Giardia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Romana Vargová
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
| | - Pavla Hanousková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Jana Salamonová
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
| | - David Žihala
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
| | - Jeffrey D. Silberman
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, United States
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Marek Eliáš
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
- *Correspondence: Marek Eliáš,
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
- Ivan Čepička,
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Céza V, Kotyk M, Kubánková A, Yubuki N, Šťáhlavský F, Silberman JD, Čepička I. Free-living Trichomonads are Unexpectedly Diverse. Protist 2022; 173:125883. [DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2022.125883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Revised: 04/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Yazaki E, Yabuki A, Imaizumi A, Kume K, Hashimoto T, Inagaki Y. The closest lineage of Archaeplastida is revealed by phylogenomics analyses that include Microheliella maris. Open Biol 2022; 12:210376. [PMID: 35414259 PMCID: PMC9006020 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.210376] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
By clarifying the phylogenetic positions of 'orphan' protists (unicellular micro-eukaryotes with no affinity to extant lineages), we may uncover the novel affiliation between two (or more) major lineages in eukaryotes. Microheliella maris was an orphan protist, which failed to be placed within the previously described lineages by pioneering phylogenetic analyses. In this study, we analysed a 319-gene alignment and demonstrated that M. maris represents a basal lineage of one of the major eukaryotic lineages, Cryptista. We here propose a new clade name 'Pancryptista' for Cryptista plus M. maris. The 319-gene analyses also indicated that M. maris is a key taxon to recover the monophyly of Archaeplastida and the sister relationship between Archaeplastida and Pancryptista, which is collectively called 'CAM clade' here. Significantly, Cryptophyceae tend to be attracted to Rhodophyta depending on the taxon sampling (ex., in the absence of M. maris and Rhodelphidia) and the particular phylogenetic 'signal' most likely hindered the stable recovery of the monophyly of Archaeplastida in previous studies.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Akinori Yabuki
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan
| | - Ayaka Imaizumi
- College of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Keitaro Kume
- Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Tetsuo Hashimoto
- Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan,Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
| | - Yuji Inagaki
- Graduate School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan,Center for Computational Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan
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7
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Pipaliya SV, Thompson LA, Dacks JB. The reduced ARF regulatory system in Giardia intestinalis pre-dates the transition to parasitism in the lineage Fornicata. Int J Parasitol 2021; 51:825-839. [PMID: 33848497 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2021.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Giardia intestinalis is an enteric pathogen with an extremely modified membrane trafficking system, lacking canonical compartments such as the Golgi, endosomes, and intermediate vesicle carriers. By comparison the fornicate relatives of Giardia possess greater endomembrane system complexity. In eukaryotes, the ADP ribosylation factor (ARF) GTPase regulatory system proteins, which consist of the small GTPase ARF1, and its guanine exchange nucleotide factors (GEFs) and GTPase activating proteins (GAPs), coordinate temporal and directional trafficking of cargo vesicles by recognizing and interacting with heterotetrameric coat complexes at pre-Golgi and post-Golgi interfaces. To understand the evolution of this regulatory system across the fornicate lineage, we have performed comparative genomic and phylogenetic analyses of the ARF GTPases, and their regulatory GAPs and GEFs in fornicate genomes and transcriptomes. Prior to our analysis of the fornicates, we first establish that the ARF GAP sub-family ArfGAP with dual PH domains (ADAP) is sparsely distributed but present in at least four eukaryotic supergroups and thus was likely present in the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor (LECA). Next, our collective comparative genomic and phylogenetic investigations into the ARF regulatory proteins in fornicates identify a duplication of ARF1 GTPase yielding two paralogues of ARF1F proteins, ancestral to all fornicates and present in all examined isolates of Giardia. However, the ARF GEF and ARF GAP complement is reduced compared with the LECA. This investigation shows that the system was significantly streamlined prior to the fornicate ancestor but was not further reduced concurrent with a transition into a parasitic lifestyle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shweta V Pipaliya
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
| | - L Alexa Thompson
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Joel B Dacks
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre, CAS v.v.i. Branisovska 31, 370 05 Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic.
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Heiss AA, Warring SD, Lukacs K, Favate J, Yang A, Gyaltshen Y, Filardi C, Simpson AGB, Kim E. Description of Imasa heleensis, gen. nov., sp. nov. (Imasidae, fam. nov.), a Deep-Branching Marine Malawimonad and Possible Key Taxon in Understanding Early Eukaryotic Evolution. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2020; 68:e12837. [PMID: 33274482 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2020] [Revised: 09/23/2020] [Accepted: 11/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Malawimonadida is a deep-level (arguably "kingdom-scale") lineage of eukaryotes whose phylogenetic affinities are uncertain but of great evolutionary interest, as the group is suspected to branch close to the root of the tree of eukaryotes. Part of the difficulty in placing Malawimonadida phylogenetically is its tiny circumscription: at present, it comprises only two described and one cultured but undescribed species, all of them are freshwater suspension-feeding nanoflagellates. In this study, we cultivated and characterised Imasa heleensis gen. nov., sp. nov. (Imasidae fam. nov.), the first marine malawimonad to be described. Light and electron microscopy observations show that Imasa is largely similar to other malawimonads, but more frequently adheres to the substrate, often by means of a pliable posterior extension. Phylogenetic analyses based on two ribosomal RNA genes and four translated protein-coding genes using three different taxon sets place Imasa as sister to the three freshwater malawimonad strains with strong support. Imasa's mitochondrial genome is circular-mapping and shows a similar gene complement to other known malawimonads. We conclude that Imasa represents an important expansion of the range of taxa available for future evolutionary study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron A Heiss
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | - Sally D Warring
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | - Kaleigh Lukacs
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | - John Favate
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | - Ashley Yang
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | - Yangtsho Gyaltshen
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
| | | | - Alastair G B Simpson
- Department of Biology and Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford St, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Eunsoo Kim
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York City, New York, 10024, USA
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