Evolutionary Relationships Among Protozoa

About this book

The evolutionary biology of protozoa is a field in which exciting changes are taking place. Relationships between different groups of protozoa are undergoing extensive review and the revised views will have significant repercussions for future investigations. New data from molecular and ultrastructual studies have changed our perception of evolution among this diverse group of organisms in recent years. This volume aims to review this important area and give an up-to-date synthesis of current understanding.

Contents

Part 1 Revolution among the protozoa, K. Vickerman: revising kingdoms - what are the protozoa these days? revising the systematics of protozoa along evolutionary lines; evolution of the nucleus in protozoa; endosymbiosis and evolution of protozoa; evolution of parasitism. Part 2 The molecular phylogeny of protozoa - solid facts and uncertainties, H. Philippe, A. Adoutte: a short account of the pre-molecular era; from the burst of molecular phylogeny to the genesis of a dogma; pitfalls of molecular phylogeny; have these pitfalls affected the phylogeny of protists? a big bang in eukaryotic evolution?. Part 3 Evolutionary relationships among protist phyla constructed from LSUrRNAs accounting for unequal rates of substitution among sites, N.J. Tourasse, M. Gouy: data and methods; results; discussion. Part 4 Evolutionary relationships of microspore, E.U. Canning: phylogenetic relationships of microsporal relationships of microsporidian genera. Part 5 Phylogenetics of protozoa tubulin with reference to the amitochondriate eukaryotes, T.D. Edlind: amitochondrial protozoa - our eukaryotic roots? protein sequences as phylogenetic markers; tubulin - structure in phylogenetic analysis of tubulins; trees based on nearly complete tubulin sequences; trees based on partial tubulin sequences; current models for early eukaryotic evolution; prospects. Part 6 Enzymes and compartmentation of core energy metabolism of anaerobic protists a special case in eukaryotic evolution? M. Muller: amitochondriate metabolism; taxonomic distribution of amitochondriate protists; putative ancestral features of amitochondriate metabolism; history of individual enzymes; metabolic compartmentation; outlook. Part 7 Molecular phylogeny of trichomonas and naegleria - implications for the relative timing of the mitochondrion endosymbiosis, D.S. Horner et al: The small subunit ribosomal RNA gene tree for deep branching eukaryotes; protein phylogenies for protists; are all early branching eukaryotes primitively amitochondriate? relationships of naegleria and other protists based upon actin sequences; relationships of naegleria and other protists based upon beta-tubulin sequences; the position of trichomonas and naegleria inferred from molecular data - absence of support for the 'percolozoa early' hypothesis. Part 8 Hydrogenosomes and plastid-like organelles in amoeboflagellates, chytrids, and apicomplexan parasites, J.H.P. Hackstein et al: hydrogenosomes; interactions of the hydrogenosome with other organelles or endosymbionts; apicomplexan plastids. Part 9 Molecular systematics of the intestinal amoebae, C.G. Clark et al: methods; results. (Part contents).

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