''Bodo saltans'' (alternatively known as ''Pleuromonas jaculans'') is a free-living nonparasitic species of

kinetoplastid Kinetoplastida (or Kinetoplastea, as a class) is a group of flagellated protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa, and characterised by the presence of an organelle with a large massed DNA called kinetoplast (hence the name). The organisms are ...

flagellate A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and their ...

d phagotrophic

protozoa Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...

that feed on bacteria. ''Bodo saltans'' cells have been reported in freshwater and marine environments. ''Bodo saltans'' is a single-celled bean-shaped organism 4 to 5 micrometers in length. It has two flagella: a short anterior projecting flagellum and a longer posterior-projecting flagellum without hairs (acronematic) that extends beyond the length of the cell. ''B. saltans'' secures itself to the substrate of its aquatic habitat by the tip of a posterior flagellum. Flexing of the posterior flagellum results in a twitching, jumping movement that is characteristic of this species. This type of movement appears similar to the undulating membrane of the sexually-transmitted pathogen ''

Trichomonas vaginalis ''Trichomonas vaginalis'' is an anaerobic, flagellated protozoan parasite and the causative agent of a sexually transmitted disease called trichomoniasis. It is the most common pathogenic protozoan that infects humans in industrialized countries ...

'' and can result in a false-positive diagnosis in cases where ''B. saltans'' is a contaminant in test samples, especially if a nonsterile

saline solution Saline (also known as saline solution) is a mixture of sodium chloride (salt) and water. It has a number of uses in medicine including cleaning wounds, removal and storage of contact lenses, and help with dry eyes. By injection into a vein it ...

has been used.

Phylogenetic analysis 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 ...

of the

mitochondrial A mitochondrion (; ) is an organelle found in the cells of most Eukaryotes, such as animals, plants and fungi. Mitochondria have a double membrane structure and use aerobic respiration to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is use ...

RNA editing process and inferred protein sequences in ''B. saltans'' appear to show that ''B. saltans'' diverged early on from the evolutionary line of kinetoplastids and that this species of bodonid is more closely related to the

trypanosomatid Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid excavates distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek ''trypano'' (borer) and ''soma'' (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosomatid species ...

s than at least two species of parasitic bodonids of the genus ''

Cryptobia ''Cryptobia'' is a genus of kinetoplastids. Several species are known for being fish pathogens. They can be found in other animals, as well. The name ''Trypanoplasma'' is occasionally used for some of these.Woo, P. T. K. (2003)''Cryptobia'' (''Tr ...

''. Analysis based on the sequence of the

topoisomerase II Type II topoisomerases are topoisomerases that cut both strands of the DNA helix simultaneously in order to manage DNA tangles and supercoils. They use the hydrolysis of ATP, unlike Type I topoisomerase. In this process, these enzymes change the ...

(topo II) gene provides evidence that ''B. saltans'' is a predecessor of the trypanosomatids. Commonly, the molecules of

mitochondrial DNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...

in eukaryotes are circular and replication and transcription result in topological stress that is mitigated by enzymes called topoisomerases. Kinetoplastids possess a single mitochondrion with what is perhaps the most complex network of mitochondrial "kDNA" in small and large circular forms. As a consequence, mitochondrial genes for topoisomerases are available in high quantities that make it an attractive focus of genetic study. It is also the significance of the enzyme class of topoisomerases to the function of kinetoplastids that makes the topo genes a target for the medical treatment of trypanosomial and

leishmania ''Leishmania'' is a parasitic protozoan, a single-celled organism of the genus '' Leishmania'' that are responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. They are spread by sandflies of the genus ''Phlebotomus'' in the Old World, and of the genus '' ...

l diseases. In one

phylogenetic tree A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...

, the parasitic kinetoplastids included two separate groups of species – ''C. helicis'' and ''Trypanoplasma borreli'' in one group and the trypanosomatids in the other. The non-parasitic free-living ''B.saltans'' and ''B. uncinatus'' were distributed among the two groups, which implies that the bodonids such as ''B. saltans'', may not have been predecessors of the parasitic species. Other studies show that the trypanosomatids evolved relatively late among the kinetoplastids and constitute a monophyletic group, but that the bodonids may be paraphyletic. The species is known for being infected by a

giant virus A giant virus, sometimes referred to as a girus, is a very large virus, some of which are larger than typical bacteria. All known giant viruses belong to the phylum '' Nucleocytoviricota''. Description While the exact criteria as defined in the ...

, the

Bodo saltans virus The Bodo saltans virus is a giant virus of the ''Mimiviridae'' family that infects the protozoa ''Bodo saltans''. It has a genome of 1.39 megabases A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleo ...

, a member of the

Mimiviridae ''Mimiviridae'' is a family of viruses. Amoeba and other protists serve as natural hosts. The family is divided in up to 4 subfamilies., UCPMS ID: 1889607PDF/ref> Fig. 4 and §Discussion: "Considering that tupanviruses comprise a sister gr ...

family.

References

Bibliography

*Blom, Daniël; Annett de Haan; Marlene van den Berg; Paul Sloof; Milan Jirku; Julius Lukes;, Rob Benne. 1998. RNA editing in the free-living bodonid Bodo saltans. Nucleic Acids Research Vol. 26, no. 5 1205-1213. *Dolezel, D; M. Jirku, D.A. Maslov and J. Lukes. 2000. Phylogeny of the bodonid flagellates (Kinetoplastida) based on small-subunit rRNA gene sequences. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. Vol 50: 1943-1951 *Gaziová, Ivana and Julius Lukes. 2003. Mitochondrial and nuclear localization of topoisomerase II in the flagellate Bodo saltans (Kinetoplastida), a species with non-catenated kinetoplast DNA. Jan 16th JBC Papers, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. *Hänel K. 1979. Systematik und Ökologie der farblosen Flagellaten des Abwassers. Arch Protistenkd 121: 73-137. *Hausmann, Klaus; Hulsmann, Norbert; Radek, Renate; Protistology (3rd Edition) 2003. E. Scheizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung. *, updated with data from Al Qassab et al. (2002). * *Vørs N. 1992. Heterotrophic amoebae, flagellates and heliozoa from the Tvärminne area, Gulf of Finland, in 1988-1990.

References

Bibliography

Further reading