''Pirum gemmata'' is a unicellular eukaryote that belongs to the Ichthyosporea clade, a group of protists closely related to animals. ''P. gemmata'' was isolated from the gut contents of a marine invertebrate, specifically the detritivorous peanut worm ''Phascolosoma agassizii''.
''Pirum gemmata''’s growth under culture conditions, is through the development of a mature syncytial stage that undergoes sporogenesis and eventually releases endospores through one or more openings in the parent cell wall. Mature cells are multinucleated, with a cell wall, and can measure up to 200 μm.
Endospores are amoeboid and some have pseudopod-like cell extensions.
Taxonomy
''Pirum gemmata'' is a member of the
Ichthyosporea
The Mesomycetozoea (or DRIP clade, or Ichthyosporea) are a small group of Opisthokonta in Eukaryote, Eukaryota (formerly protists), mostly parasites of fish and other animals.
Significance
They are not particularly distinctive morphologically, a ...
clade, which is the earliest branching
holozoa
Holozoa is a group of organisms that includes animals and their closest single-celled relatives, but excludes fungi. ''Holozoa'' is also an old name for the tunicate genus ''Distaplia''.''
Because Holozoa is a clade including all organisms mor ...
n lineage.
Applications
''Pirum gemmata'' can easily be cultured axenically in marine broth medium. Given its phylogenetic position as a close unicellular relative of animals, ''P. gemmata'' could potentially provide important insights into the origin of multicellular animals.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q30715601
Mesomycetozoea
Opisthokont species
Protists described in 2011