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277:, with a conical side and a flat base, which is an adhesion zone to algal cells. This appearance makes an impression of a flying saucer. It measures about 15 μm long and 8 μm broad. It contains a single nucleus and a basal body. The nucleus is about 4 μm in diameter. The cell membrane is covered with scales and is highly flexible. The external scales are boat shaped, each measuring 150 nm long and 70 nm wide.
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189:. Described by Sebastian Hess and Alastair G. B. Simpson in 2019, the scientific name means distinct or peculiar swimmer. Named because of its unique locomotion by creating a water vortex with its flying saucer-like body, it was also dubbed UFO (for unidentified flagellate organism). It is the only known
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amoeboid cell (left) and flagellate (right). (B) An amoeboid cell with leptopodia, nucleus, and food inclusions. (C) Time series of locomoting amoeba. (D) Three amoebae showing the distribution of F-actin (phalloidin) in leptopodia (arrowheads) and adhesion zones (dashed circles). Scale bars: 5
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The protist can exist in two different forms: flagellate and amoeboid. It is the only known species of cutosean amoebas having both forms, as all other cutoseans are non-flagellated. As a flagellate, it projects out a single flagellum of about 30 μm long from the basal body and lives as a free
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is a parasitoid organism spending some of its lifetime as a parasite of algae and some as a free-swimming flagellate. The flagellate actively swims in water looking for green algae to attack upon. Once it comes in contact with the algal cell surface, it dissolves the algal
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which appeared to contain additional cells inside their filaments. After few days he saw that the hidden cells came out of the algae and swim in the water, and then invade fresh algae. As an unknown amoeba, they nicknamed it UFO (for an "unidentified flagellate organism").
288:(A) Whole cell showing with several pseudopodia that project leptopodia. (B) Two leptopodia from one pseudopodium. (C) Ultrathin sections through leptopodia. (D) Adhesion zone. (E and F) Cross sections through the scaly cell coat. (G and H) Boat-like scaly cell coat.
231:, Nova Scotia, Canada. With the help of his Dalhousie colleagues Laura Eme, Andrew J. Roger and Alastair G. B. Simpson, he was abled to genetically find out that the organism was a type of amoeba. Specifically, the unusual cells were
329:. When the food source is depleted and feeding stopped, each daughter cell produces a flagellum from its flagellar pit. The flagellates escape into water and start swimming to restart another cycle of development.
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that swim with peculiar motion, they rotate perpendicular to the direction of movement unlike other eukaryotic flagellates and looked like tiny flying saucers. In 2019, the team made the formal description in
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as protrusions of the cell membrane to form needle-like processes called leptopodia. The leptopodia can be as long as 8 μm. In this condition, it lives as parasite inside algal cell.
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518:"The Sphagnum Ponds of Simmelried in Germany: A Biodiversity Hot-Spot for Microscopic Organisms. Protozoological Monographs, by M. Kreutz & W. Foissner"
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swimmer in water. Although it is a flagellate, it is genetically more closely related to non-flagellated amoebas. In an amoeboid form, it can give off many
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219:. In 2010, Hess collected unusual microbes which were unknown at the time. As he observed the water samples under a microscope, he saw
701:"Experimental evidence for enzymatic cell wall dissolution in a microbial protoplast feeder (Orciraptor agilis, Viridiraptoridae)"
321:, it turns into bright green colour. It produces leptopodia from its pseudopodia for movement inside the alga. It then divides by
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and penetrates into the algal cytoplasm. As a type of the so-called phagotrophic protoplast feeders, it start feeding (by
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607:"The amoebae of Idionectes vortex (Cutosea, Amoebozoa): Motility, cytoskeleton architecture and extracellular scales"
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654:"Description of Armaparvus languidus n. gen. n. sp. Confirms Ultrastructural Unity of Cutosea (Amoebozoa, Evosea)"
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ponds of the
Simmelried in Allensbach, Konstanz, Germany. The location has been recognised as a microbial
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Sebastian Hess, a zoology student at the
University of Cologne, had been studying microbes from the
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is a unicellular protist that lives in water. Its main cell body is rounded like a blob,
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Hess, Sebastian; Eme, Laura; Roger, Andrew J.; Simpson, Alastair G. B. (2019-06-10).
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557:"Watch: Recent microbial discoveries are changing our view of life on Earth"
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Hess continued to study the UFOs during his postdoctoral research at
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361:"A natural toroidal microswimmer with a rotary eukaryotic flagellum"
582:"What the weird world of protists can teach us about life on Earth"
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Moye, Jannika; Schenk, Tobias; Hess, Sebastian (2022-12-05).
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412:"Tiny flying saucers are actually odd new microbes"
249:, meaning distinct or peculiar swimmer in vortex.
652:Schuler, Gabriel A.; Brown, Matthew W. (2019).
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497:Research Communities by Springer Nature
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197:, which is the usual characteristic of
658:The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
611:The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology
179:, Konstanz, Germany. It contains only
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493:"A new microbial swimming style"
605:Hess, Sebastian (2021-08-26).
491:Hess, Sebastian (2019-06-14).
1:
516:Lynn, Denis H. (2006-10-17).
245:and gave the scientific name
580:Milius, Susan (2024-04-11).
555:Milius, Susan (2023-10-06).
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856:Protists described in 2019
718:10.1186/s12915-022-01478-x
437:10.1038/d41586-019-01827-x
159:(Hess & Simpson, 2019)
422:(7761): 279. 2019-06-12.
377:10.1038/s41564-019-0478-6
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51:Scientific classification
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460:"Like a swimming donut"
193:cell having a rotating
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586:Science News Explores
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275:radially symmetrical
229:Dalhousie University
217:biodiversity hotspot
866:Parasitic amoebozoa
762:Taxonomy on ZooBank
428:2019Natur.570R.279.
365:Nature Microbiology
242:Nature Microbiology
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286:Idionectes vortex.
284:Ultrastructure of
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786:Idionectes vortex
778:Taxon identifiers
670:10.1111/jeu.12640
623:10.1111/jeu.12869
371:(10): 1620–1626.
263:Idionectes vortex
247:Idionectes vortex
236:amoeboflagellates
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152:Idionectes vortex
43:Idionectes vortex
26:Idionectes vortex
16:Species of amoeba
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109:Idionectidae
69:(unranked):
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861:Flagellates
705:BMC Biology
561:ScienceNews
295:pseudopodia
221:green algae
199:prokaryotes
181:one species
81:Subphylum:
845:Categories
801:Q109927152
711:(1): 267.
591:2024-06-27
566:2024-06-26
528:(6): 543.
502:2024-06-26
470:2024-06-25
333:References
306:Idionectes
301:Life cycle
271:Idionectes
233:parasitoid
191:eukaryotic
177:Allensbach
168:Idionectes
120:Idionectes
727:1741-7007
678:1550-7408
631:1550-7408
542:1066-5234
446:0028-0836
385:2058-5276
311:cell wall
253:Structure
205:Discovery
195:flagellum
186:I. vortex
127:Species:
74:Amoebozoa
62:Eukaryota
795:Wikidata
745:36464670
686:29858563
639:34435411
393:31182800
212:Sphagnum
105:Family:
57:Domain:
823:ZooBank
815:2562733
736:9721047
424:Bibcode
323:mitosis
319:plastid
115:Genus:
98:Cutosea
93:Class:
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173:amoeba
86:Conosa
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635:PMID
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389:PMID
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261:(A)
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