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Cysts and symbionts of Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby from Neotermes

Cysts and symbionts of Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby from Neotermes
Cysts and symbionts of Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby from Neotermes
Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby, a hindgut hypermastigote parabasalid symbiont in two kalotermitids (Neotermes mona St. John, US Virgin Islands and N. jouteli Puerto Rico) was studied live and by electron microscopy. In this first description of hypermastigote protist cysts in termite intestines we report numerous of these translucent walled spheres in a population of S. assimilis in the hindgut of one pseudergate from a Puerto Rican mangrove community. Tightly adhering, regularly spaced rod bacteria were observed on the surfaces of all live S. assimilis cells. The bacterial nature of these ectosymbiotic rods was verified by TEM and SEM. They are present on the four anterior lobes and most of the rest of the surface of this hypermastigote. The processes by which these ectosymbionts may be retained after ingestion, propagated and transported to the protist's outer membrane are suggested. The ultrastructure of other unknown symbionts, endonuclear microbes that resemble Caryococcus, perhaps pleiomorphic Gram negative bacteria, is also described.
bacterial cortical symbionts, caryococcus, cysts, nuclear symbionts, staurojoenina, termite flagellate
0932-4739
257-264
Dolan, Michael F.
c64cc9ec-9950-44a0-8fce-104cb05a00ff
Wier, Andrew M.
da6552ef-de00-49b7-a018-a4d3c9fa5e90
Melnitsky, Hannah
7ed646dd-ee1f-43a2-9fc6-c433e7132f22
Whiteside, Jessica H.
5d9ad7aa-eba3-4ad9-9f6f-81be71b6829b
Margulis, Lynn
faca8923-0319-40ba-a7ef-c78b1f7cb9ea
Dolan, Michael F.
c64cc9ec-9950-44a0-8fce-104cb05a00ff
Wier, Andrew M.
da6552ef-de00-49b7-a018-a4d3c9fa5e90
Melnitsky, Hannah
7ed646dd-ee1f-43a2-9fc6-c433e7132f22
Whiteside, Jessica H.
5d9ad7aa-eba3-4ad9-9f6f-81be71b6829b
Margulis, Lynn
faca8923-0319-40ba-a7ef-c78b1f7cb9ea

Dolan, Michael F., Wier, Andrew M., Melnitsky, Hannah, Whiteside, Jessica H. and Margulis, Lynn (2004) Cysts and symbionts of Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby from Neotermes. European Journal of Protistology, 40 (4), 257-264. (doi:10.1016/j.ejop.2004.01.005).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Staurojoenina assimilis Kirby, a hindgut hypermastigote parabasalid symbiont in two kalotermitids (Neotermes mona St. John, US Virgin Islands and N. jouteli Puerto Rico) was studied live and by electron microscopy. In this first description of hypermastigote protist cysts in termite intestines we report numerous of these translucent walled spheres in a population of S. assimilis in the hindgut of one pseudergate from a Puerto Rican mangrove community. Tightly adhering, regularly spaced rod bacteria were observed on the surfaces of all live S. assimilis cells. The bacterial nature of these ectosymbiotic rods was verified by TEM and SEM. They are present on the four anterior lobes and most of the rest of the surface of this hypermastigote. The processes by which these ectosymbionts may be retained after ingestion, propagated and transported to the protist's outer membrane are suggested. The ultrastructure of other unknown symbionts, endonuclear microbes that resemble Caryococcus, perhaps pleiomorphic Gram negative bacteria, is also described.

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More information

Published date: 9 December 2004
Keywords: bacterial cortical symbionts, caryococcus, cysts, nuclear symbionts, staurojoenina, termite flagellate
Organisations: Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 354778
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/354778
ISSN: 0932-4739
PURE UUID: 19d06237-0bf0-4c7c-b298-fd569faf1e12

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Date deposited: 19 Jul 2013 10:54
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 14:24

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Contributors

Author: Michael F. Dolan
Author: Andrew M. Wier
Author: Hannah Melnitsky
Author: Lynn Margulis

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