0000000000285212
AUTHOR
Guy Brugerolle
The flagellates of the termite Hodotermopsis sjoestedti with special reference to Hoplonympha, Holomastigotes and Trichomonoides trypanoides n. comb.
Abstract The termite Hodotermopsis sjoestedti harbours a symbiotic fauna of protists comprising at least 11 genera and a much larger number of species. Two oxymonad genera, Pyrsonympha and Dinenympha, are mixed with nine parabasalid genera, two trichomonads, Trichomitopsis termopsidis and Trichomonoides trypanoides n. comb., four spirotrichonymphid genera/species: Spirotrichonympha, Microjoenia, Holomastigotes lanceolata n. sp., Holomastigotes elongatum and three trichonymphid genera/species; Hoplonympha natator, Eucomonympha, Trichonympha. Hoplonympha natator has two anterior symmetrical bundles of ∼60 basal bodies/flagella separated by two parabasal plates. The cell surface is crenelated …
Immunological and ultrastructural characterization of spirotrichonymphid flagellates from Reticulitermes grassei and R. flavipes (syn. R. santonensis), with special reference to Spirotrichonympha, Spironympha and Microjoenia
AbstractFive species of spirotrichonymphids representing three genera have been studied by light and immunofluorescence microscopy, and by transmission electron microscopy. The genus Spirotrichonympha, represented by S. flagellata from Reticulitermes grassei, is characterized by a compound axostyle composed of several fibers or subaxostyles. The genus Spironympha, represented by S. kofoidi from Reticulitermes flavipes (syn. R. santonensis) and by the two new species S. verticis and S. lanceata, is characterized by flagellar lines restricted to the anterior area and a simple, tubular axostyle. Spironympha verticis and S. lanceata are mainly distinguished by ultrastructural details of their f…
Ultrastructure of Joenoides intermedia (Grassé 1952), a symbiotic parabasalid flagellate of Hodotermes mossambicus, and its comparison with other joeniid genera
Light and electron microscopy confirms the validity of the genus Joenoides. The cell is organised like other joeniids with a triangular flagellar area of about two thousand flagella/basal bodies and three privileged basal bodies located apart at the anterior corner of the flagellar area. Characteristically, the two parabasal fibres attached to the basal body #2 are very large and composed of striated subfibres that spread in the cytoplasm, where they sustain Golgi bodies. The flagellar area is surrounded by the axostylar capitulum, which is underlain by a thick layer of preaxostylar fibres, a very strongly amplified component in this species. The axostylar trunk is composed of a bundle of m…
Pachyjoenia howa, a new symbiotic parabasalid joeniid flagellate of the termite Postelectrotermes howa
The Joenia-like lophomonad of Postelectrotermes howa is identified by light and electron microscopy as a new genus and species Pachyjoenia howa. Its flagellar area of about 1800 flagella is dome shaped. Basal bodies bear a composite root oriented counterclockwise in addition to the clockwise hook-shaped lamina present in other joeniids. There are four parallel privileged basal bodies. The main parabasal fibre is twisted around the axostyle and splits into several branches bearing Golgi bodies. The axostyle trunk is conspicuous and composed of a bundle of ∼90 small axostyles. There are sausage-shaped bacterial endosymbionts mixed with hydrogenosomes in the cytoplasm and coccoid bacterial end…
Identification of the ectosymbiotic bacteria of Mixotricha paradoxa involved in movement symbiosis
Mixotricha paradoxa, a trichomonad from the hindgut of the Australian termite Mastotermes darwiniensis Froggatt, is a rare example of a movement symbiosis between eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms. The surface of Mixotricha paradoxa is covered with spirochaetes and a rod-shaped bacterium. The four flagella at the anterior end seem only to alter the direction of movement, while the ectosymbiotic spirochaetes propel the flagellate cells. Based on a 16S rDNA sequence analysis after a semi-specific PCR, and subsequent fluorescence in situ hybridization applying helper oligonucleotides and a denaturing step of the 16S rRNA, three different spirochaete clones could be clearly identified o…
Ultrastructure and Organization of the Cytoskeleton in Oxymonas, an Intestinal Flagellate of Termites
ABSTRACT. Oxymonas has the characteristic structures and organization of other oxymonads including two separated pairs of basal bodies/flagella, a preaxostylar lamina, a paracrystalline axostyle, and an absence of mitochondria and Golgi. Like other Oxymonadinae genera it possesses a long proboscis, the rostellum which is terminated by the holdfast. Like the genera Pyrsonympha and Streblomastix, Oxymonas possesses a holdfast which permits it to attach to the cuticle of the termite hind-gut. This holdfast is subdivided into rhizoids and is filled with microfilaments. The rostellum is variable in length and contains two distinct microtubular bundles. One bundle is composed of convoluted microt…