Nephridiophaga
Nephridiophaga is a genus of single cell eukaryotes that inhabit the Malpighian tubules of insects.[1][2] Ivanic described the type species from honey bees.[2]
| Nephridiophaga | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Division: | incertae sedis |
| Class: | incertae sedis |
| Order: | incertae sedis |
| Family: | Nephridiophagidae Sprague 1970 |
| Genus: | Nephridiophaga |
| Type species | |
| Nepharidiophaga apis Ivanic 1937 | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Coelosporidium Mesnil & Marchoux 1897 | |
Morphology and life cycle
Nephridiophaga spores are small, flattened ovals that resemble a red blood cell. Each spore contains a single nucleus and may have an inconspicuous, central opening. Spores are ingested by insects. Once inside the host, spores germinate, though whether in the gut or elsewhere is not known.Plasmodia inhabit and feed on Malpighian tubule cells where they are in direct contact with the cytoplasm. Multi-nucleate plasmodia are eventually released into the lumen, some attach to the brush border of the tubule cells using pseudopodia that interdigitate with the microvilli of the cells. Other plasmodia form merozoite-like cells. Plasmodia released into the lumen form sporoblasts internally with a spore wall enclosing each nucleus. Sporoblasts can be asexual or sexual. Asexual sporoblasts are formed from a type of closed mitosis with chromosomes un-condensed and spindle poles remaining un-connected to the nuclear envelope, which is a common form of mitosis for fungi. Sexual sporoblasts are formed after the fusion of meiotic nuclei; however, the details of meiosis and fusion are not known, and the phenomenon is doubted by some authors.[1][3][4] Spores are excreted from the insect in its feces.[1]
Taxonomy
Nephridiophaga was originally placed in the protist order Haplosporidia, though not all researchers agreed with some placing them in the Microsporidia, and others leaving them unclassified. Molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that the species infecting cockroaches belong to the kingdom Fungi.[2]
Species
- Nephridiophaga apis
- Nephridiophaga archimandrita
- Nephridiophaga blaberi
- Nephridiophaga blatellae
- Nephridiophaga forficulae
- Nephridiophaga lucihormetica
- Nephridiophaga maderae
- Nephridiophaga meloidorum
- Nephridiophaga ormieresi
- Nephridiophaga periplanetae
- Nephridiophaga schalleri
- Nephridiophaga tangae
References
- Woolever, Patricia (1966). "Life history and electron microscopy of a haplosporidian, Nephridiophaga blattellae (Crawley) n. comb., in the Malphigian tubulues of the German cockroach, Blattella germanica (L.)". Journal of Protozoology. 13: 622–642. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.1966.tb01973.x.
- Radek, Renate; Wurzbacher, Christian; Gisder, Sebastian; Nilsson, R. Henrick; Owerfeldt, Anja; Genersch, Elke; Kirk, Paul K.; Voigt, Kerstin (2017). "Morphologic and molecular data help adopting the insect-pathogenic nephridiophagids (Nephridiophagidae) among the early diverging fungal lineages, close to the Chytridiomycota". MycoKeys. 25: 31–50.
- Lange, Carlos E. (1993). "Unclassified protists of arthropods: The ultrastructure of Nephridiophaga perilanetae (Lutz & Splendore, 1903) N. Comb., and the affinities of the Nephridiophagidae to other protists". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 40: 689–700.
- Radek, R.; Herth, W. (1999). "Ultrastructural investigation of the spore-forming protist Nephridiophaga blattellae in the Malpighian tubules of the German cockroah Blattella germanica". Parasitological Research. 85: 216–231.
- Fabel, Paola; Radek, Renate; Storch, Volker (2000). "A new spore-forming protist, Nephridiophaga blaberi sp. nov., in the death's head cockroch Blaberus craniifer". European Journal of Protistology. 36: 387–395.
- Radek, Ranate; Wellmanns, Daniel; Wolf, Anja (2011). "Two new species of Nephridiphaga (Zygomycota) in the Malpighian tubules of cockroaches". Parisitological Research. 109: 473–482.