Morphological and Molecular Evidence Support a Close Relationship Between the Free-living Archamoebae Mastigella and Pelomyxa

First multigene analysis of Archamoebae (Amoebozoa: Conosa) robustly reveals its phylogeny and shows that Entamoebidae represents a deep lineage of the group

“…Four examined strains (Mastigella eilhardi ATCC 50342, Rhizomastix libera IND8, R. elongata VAVRH, and Mastigamoeba abducta CHOM1) were grown in monoeukaryotic cultures with various unidentified bacteria, following previously published protocols (Ptáčková et al, 2013;Zadrobílková et al, 2015;Zadrobílková et al, in press). Pelomyxa sp.…”

“…In analyses of SSU rDNA, each of the four families containing more than a single species appears robustly monophyletic; Tricholimacidae is monotypic and no molecular data exists for Tricholimax hylae (Ptáčková et al, 2013;Zadrobílková et al, 2015;Zadrobílková et al, in press). Monophyly of Pelomyxidae (Mastigella + Pelomyxa) is further supported by actin gene phylogeny (Zadrobílková et al, 2015). In SSU rDNA trees, family Mastigamoebidae splits into two diverse, statistically well-supported clades, provisionally called Mastigamoebidae A and B (Ptáčková et al, 2013).…”

“…Nevertheless, relationships within the Archamoebae are currently unclear, because neither actin nor SSU rDNA trees are able to resolve relationships between families (Cavalier-Smith et al, 2004;Ptáčková et al, 2013;Stensvold et al, 2012;Zadrobílková et al, 2015;Zadrobílková et al, in press). Both Pelomyxa and Entamoeba form very long branches in SSU rDNA trees, and their phylogenetic positions are probably affected by long-branch attraction (Ptáčková et al, 2013).…”

Morphological and Molecular Diversity of the Neglected Genus Rhizomastix Alexeieff, 1911 (Amoebozoa: Archamoebae) with Description of Five New Species

“…; Zadrobílková et al. ). The best‐known and most extensively studied member of the group is the human parasite Entamoeba histolytica , which causes amoebic dysentery (Martínez‐Palomo ).…”

“…; Zadrobílková et al. ). The endobiotic lifestyle has arisen at least two times independently within Archamoebae: in Entamoebidae, genus Entamoeba , and in Mastigamoebidae, genera Iodamoeba and Endolimax (Ptáčková et al.…”