''Mattesia'' 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 parasitic alveolates of the phylum

Apicomplexa The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. Th ...

. Species in this genus infect

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three ...

s ('' Coleoptera'', '' Hymenoptera'', '' Lepidoptera'' and '' Siphonaptera'').

Taxonomy

The genus was created in 1930 by Naville. There are eight recognised species in this genus. The type species is ''Mattesia geminata''.

Description

The species in this genus are spread by the orofaecal route. They infect the fat bodies of species of '' Coleoptera'', '' Hymenoptera'', '' Lepidoptera'' and '' Siphonaptera'', the

hypodermis The subcutaneous tissue (), also called the hypodermis, hypoderm (), subcutis, superficial fascia, is the lowermost layer of the integumentary system in vertebrates. The types of cells found in the layer are fibroblasts, adipose cells, and macro ...

of species of '' Hymenoptera'' and the

Malpighian tubule The Malpighian tubule system is a type of excretory and osmoregulatory system found in some insects, myriapods, arachnids and tardigrades. The system consists of branching tubules extending from the alimentary canal that absorbs solutes, water, ...

s of species of ''Lepidoptera'' and ''Siphonaptera'' as well as intestine of one species of ''Lepidoptera''. The sporozoites are elongated and measure ~. They escape from oocyst while in gut lumen when polar plugs dissolve. Flexing by the sporozoites generates motility. This permits them to penetrate the gut wall and migrate to the body fat where they enter cells of the adipose tissue. An apical complex appears to be present in sporozoites, merozoites and gamonts. The meronts are found in a

parasitophorous vacuole The parasitophorous vacuole (PV) is a structure produced by apicomplexan parasites in the cells of its host. The PV allows the parasite to develop while protected from the phagolysosomes of the host cell. The PV is a bubble-like compartment made ...

where they initially undergo micronuclear merogony by budding from the surface of the meront. The resulting merozoites spread the infection in the body fat, followed by macronuclear merogony. The macronuclear merozoites differentiate into gamonts. The micronuclei are smaller than the macronuclei by a factor of about 2-3 with the microgametes 1-2 μm in diameter and the macrogametes being 2-4 μm. Pairs of gamonts associate as two hemispherical gametocytes with the conoidal complexes of each juxtaposed. The complexes then disappear. The host tissue has usually been lysed by the time of gametocyte formation so that the cells are extracellular among host cell debris in spaces within the lysed tissue. Several nuclear divisions involving

meiosis Meiosis (; , since it is a reductional division) is a special type of cell division of germ cells in sexually-reproducing organisms that produces the gametes, such as sperm or egg cells. It involves two rounds of division that ultimately r ...

, occur to form 4 isogametes within a gametocyst wall. This followed by pairing and copulation. Residual or somatic nuclei in 1 or 2 residual bodies later degenerate. The two zygotes each form a delimiting wall becoming oocysts. The oocysts are usually lemon shaped with polar plugs. Four or eight sporozoites are formed internally after 2 or 3 nuclear divisions respectively.

Host records

*''M. alphitobii'' — lesser mealworm ('' Alphitobius diaperinus'') *''M. dispora'' — Indianmeal moth ('' Plodia interpunctella'') *''M. geminata'' — fire ant ('' Solenopsis geminata'') *''M. grandis'' — boll weevil ('' Anthonomus grandis'') *''M. orchopiae'' — flea ('' Orchopeas wickhami'') *''M. oryzaephili'' — sawtoothed grain beetle ('' Oryzaephilus surinamensis'') *''M. povolnyi'' — Eurasian sunflower moth ('' Homoeosoma nebulellum'') *''M. trogodermae'' — Glabrous cabinet beetle ('' Trogoderma glabrum'')

Notes

This genus is a synonym of ''Coelogregarina'' Ghélélovitch, 1948. ''Mattesia bombi'' has been moved to a new genus — ''

Apicystis bombi ''Apicystis bombi'' is a species of parasitic alveolates in the phylum Apicomplexa. It infects bees, especially bumblebees. It is believed to have a cosmopolitan distribution in bumblebees and a sporadic occurrence in honey bees, and causes dise ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16985223 Apicomplexa genera