Anaeramoeba is a genus of

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: * Anaerobic adhesive, a bonding a ...

protists on uncertain

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...

position, first described in 2016.

Description

As the name implies, ''Anaeramoeba'' are

amoeboid An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and retracting pseudopo ...

organisms which form a fan-like shape similar to that of '' Flamella''. At least two species can also sometimes assume flagellate forms; with either two or four flagella. They contain double-membrane bound

organelles In cell biology, an organelle is a specialized subunit, usually within a cell, that has a specific function. The name ''organelle'' comes from the idea that these structures are parts of cells, as organs are to the body, hence ''organelle,'' th ...

assumed to be derived from mitochondria, usually associated with colonies of unidentified, rod-shaped

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

Discovery and classification

''Anaeramoeba'' specimens were first isolated in 2016, from samples shallow water anoxic ocean sediments collected from around the world. Despite the similarities to ''Flamella'' in both morphology and environment, genetic analyses found that ''Anaeramoeba'' do not belong within Amoebozoa. The precise phylogenetic position was not identified with strong support, and the genus may represent a newly identified, deep-branching group of protists. Recent classifications have listed them as sister to

Parabasalia The parabasalids are a group of flagellated protists within the supergroup Excavata. Most of these eukaryotic organisms form a symbiotic relationship in animals. These include a variety of forms found in the intestines of termites and cockroaches ...

in Metamonada.

References

Eukaryote genera Anaerobes Phylogenetics Amoeboids {{Eukaryote-stub