''Commation'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of marine

heterotrophic A heterotroph (; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but ...

protists closely related to the

actinophryid The actinophryids are an order of heliozoa, a polyphyletic array of stramenopiles, having a close relationship with pedinellids and ''Ciliophrys''. They are common in fresh water and occasionally found in marine and soil habitats. Actinophryids a ...

s. It contains two

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

, '' Commation cryoporinum'' and '' Commation eposianum'', discovered in antarctic waters and described in 1993. Currently, the genus is classified within a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Commatiidae and order Commatiida. Along with the photosynthetic raphidophytes, these organisms compose the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

stramenopiles Stramenopile is a clade of organisms distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, and in some they have be ...

known as

Raphidomonadea The raphidophytes, formally known as Raphidomonadea or Raphidophyceae (formerly referred to as Chloromonadophyceae and Chloromonadineae), are a small group of eukaryotic algae that includes both marine and freshwater species. All raphidophytes ...

Etymology

The name of the genus, ''Commation'', derives , referring to the overall comma shape of the biconvex cells.

Morphology

''Commation'' is a genus of

unicellular A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic organisms and ...

eukaryotes. They are solitary planktonic organisms that live as circular or oval, sometimes flattened, cells with a

proboscis A proboscis () is an elongated appendage from the head of an animal, either a vertebrate or an invertebrate. In invertebrates, the term usually refers to tubular mouthparts used for feeding and sucking. In vertebrates, a proboscis is an elong ...

. Occasionally, a single

flagellum A flagellum (; ) is a hairlike appendage that protrudes from certain plant and animal sperm cells, and from a wide range of microorganisms to provide motility. Many protists with flagella are termed as flagellates. A microorganism may have f ...

with tripartite hairs (or

mastigoneme Mastigonemes are lateral "hairs" that attach to protistan flagella. Flimsy hairs attach to the flagella of euglenid flagellates, while stiff hairs occur in stramenopile and cryptophyte protists.Hoek, C. van den, Mann, D. G. and Jahns, H. ...

s) emerges from the proximity of the proboscis. They predominantly move by gliding, a motion facilitated by excretion of mucus. The cell nucleus appears at the base of the proboscis. The presence of two flagellar

basal bodies A basal body (synonymous with basal granule, kinetosome, and in older cytological literature with blepharoplast) is a protein structure found at the base of a eukaryotic undulipodium (cilium or flagellum). The basal body was named by Theodor W ...

hints at their

stramenopile Stramenopile is a clade of organisms distinguished by the presence of stiff tripartite external hairs. In most species, the hairs are attached to flagella, in some they are attached to other areas of the cellular surface, and in some they have be ...

origin, since two

heterokont Heterokonts are a group of protists (formally referred to as Heterokonta, Heterokontae or Heterokontophyta). The group is a major line of eukaryotes. Most are algae, ranging from the giant multicellular kelp to the unicellular diatoms, which a ...

flagella (one smooth, one with mastigonemes) are the main distinguishing trait of the Stramenopiles. They also present microtubular roots and a striated root or rhizoplast, a fiber connecting the nucleus to the basal bodies. The mitochondria of ''Commation'' species have tubular cristae. One or more types of extrusomes occur scattered throughout the

cytoplasm In cell biology, the cytoplasm is all of the material within a eukaryotic cell, enclosed by the cell membrane, except for the cell nucleus. The material inside the nucleus and contained within the nuclear membrane is termed the nucleoplasm. ...

. One species, '' C. cryoporinum'', presents two types of extrusomes, some of them visible under light microscopy when large enough. The other species, '' C. eposianum'', only contains one type of extrusome that is not visible. The complex

cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is com ...

of ''Commation'' contains structures consisting of microtubular arrays and electron-dense structures, present in both the cell bodies and proboscis.

Ecology

''Commation'' cells are

phagotrophic Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs phagocytosis is c ...

and non- photosynthetic, unlike their raphidophyte relatives. They live as

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

on the

Antarctic Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-small ...

, and were obtained at a depth of 10–20 meters. A single cell similar to '' C.eposianum'' was found in a

cover slip A microscope slide is a thin flat piece of glass, typically 75 by 26 mm (3 by 1 inches) and about 1 mm thick, used to hold objects for examination under a microscope. Typically the object is mounted (secured) on the slide, and then b ...

preparation belonging to a 1989 sample obtained from a

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

cruise off

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, indicating that the genus ''Commation'' may not be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Antarctic region. Despite being heterotrophic, they are classified as part of the phytoplankton in ecological surveys.

Systematics

''Commation'' was described as a

by two

biologists A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual cell, a multicellular organism, or a community of interacting populations. They usually specialize in ...

of the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

, Helge Abildhauge Thomsen and Jacob Larsen. The description was published in 1993 on the ''

European Journal of Protistology ''The European Journal of Protistology'' is a medical journal that covers the entire scope of protistology, from their development and ecology to molecular biology. The journal is published by Elsevier. It is official journal of the Federation of ...

''. Subsequent taxonomic research papers assigned ''Commation'' to a

Commatiidae and order Commatiida. The order Commatiida was initially assigned to the class Jacobea on the basis of branched tubular mitochondrial cristae.

Phylogenetic analyses 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 ...

in 2013 demonstrated that both ''Commation'' and a group of

heliozoa Heliozoa, commonly known as sun-animalcules, are microbial eukaryotes ( protists) with stiff arms ( axopodia) radiating from their spherical bodies, which are responsible for their common name. The axopodia are microtubule-supported projections f ...

known as

Actinophryida The actinophryids are an order of heliozoa, a polyphyletic array of stramenopiles, having a close relationship with pedinellids and ''Ciliophrys''. They are common in fresh water and occasionally found in marine and soil habitats. Actinophryids a ...

were related to the raphidophyte algae. The first two groups, while

, were united in the subclass Raphopoda, while the raphidophyte algae were given their own subclass Raphidophycidae. Together, these two subclasses currently compose the class

Species

Two

have been described: * '' Commation cryoporinum'' * '' Commation eposianum''

References

{{taxonbar, from1=Q25369569, from2=Q112633677, from3=Q97180797 Taxa described in 1993 Ochrophyte genera Ochrophyta