Check-list of microscopic protosteloid amoebae from the Southwest of Europe

María Aguilar,Carlos Lado

doi:10.3989/ajbm.2318

Abstract

Aguilar, M. & Lado, C. 2012. Check-list of microscopic protosteloid amoebae from the Southwest of Europe. Anales Jard. Bot. Madrid 69(2): 217-236. A biodiversity survey for protosteloid amoebae was carried out in Spain, Portugal and France between 2005 and 2010. Samples were collected from three different microhabitats – aerial litter, ground litter, and bark of living plants – in a total of 97 localities. As result 26 to 28 species out of the 33 species of microscopic protosteloid amoebae described to date were recorded. An annotated list that comprises all available data about these organisms from this part of the world, a key to the species, comments on the morphology of the sporocarps and the trophic stages is presented. Photomicrographs of the fruiting bodies of most species, and distribution maps are also included.

Highlights

Protosteloid amoebae, known as protostelids, are a group of heterotrophic unicellular organisms occurring on dead aerial plant parts, bark, leaf litter, herbivore dung, and soil
For a recent comparison of published biodiversity studies on a global scale we recommend consulting Table 2 in Ndiritu & al. (2009). Their trophic stages vary from uninucleate amoeboid and/or amoeboflagellate cells to multinucleate reticulate plasmodia
Sporocarps develop from a single amoeboid cell and, at maturity, are comprised of a single acellular stalk and one to a few spores (Olive, 1975; Spiegel, 1986, 1990; Spiegel & al., 2004). They probably have an important role in the regulation of the populations of bacteria present in soils and other microhabitats in terrestrial ecosystems (Feest, 1987; Spiegel & al. 2004), where they take part as predators feeding upon other decomposers such as yeasts, and filamentous fungi (Olive, 1975; Whitney & Bennett, 1984). These organisms were traditionally classified as occupying a primitive position within the group of slime molds termed Eumycetozoa, that includes the myxomycetes and the dictyostelids (Olive, 1975; Spiegel, 1986; Spiegel Lee & Rusk, 1995; Baldauf & Doolittle, 1997), but recent molecular data suggest that protosteloid amoebae are polyphyletic and they belong to different groups of Amoebozoa (Shadwick & al., 2009b; Fiore-Donno & al., 2010; Lahr & al., 2011; Adl & al., 2012), not necessarily directly related to other eumycetozoans

Summary

Introduction

Protosteloid amoebae, known as protostelids, are a group of heterotrophic unicellular organisms occurring on dead aerial plant parts, bark, leaf litter, herbivore dung, and soil. Sporocarps develop from a single amoeboid cell and, at maturity, are comprised of a single acellular stalk and one to a few spores (Olive, 1975; Spiegel, 1986, 1990; Spiegel & al., 2004). Though it is usually a common species in the tropics and relatively uncommon in temperate climates (Spiegel & al., 2007; Ndiritu & al., 2009), it was quite abundant in our study area. Each spore liberates one or two flagellate cells or a single amoeboid cell, that can be uninucleate or plurinucleate (Olive & Stoianovitch, 1977a).

Results

Conclusion