About Angomonas deanei

Angomonas deanei is a flagellated trypanosomatid. It is an obligate parasite in the gastrointestinal tract of insects, and is in turn a host to symbiotic bacteria. In fact the bacterial endosymbiont maintains a permanent mutualistic relationship with the protozoan such that it is no longer able to reproduce and survive on its own.

The species name was accepted as Crithidia deanei until 2011, when phylogenetic analysis revealed that it belongs to the genus Angomonas, thereby becoming Angomonas deanei. The symbiotic bacterium is a member of the β-proteobacterium that descended from the common ancestor with the genus Bordetella, or more likely, Taylorella. The two organisms have depended on each other so much that the bacterium cannot reproduce and the protozoan can no longer infect insects when they are isolated. Thus, this organismal association is a fine model for the evidence of the endosymbiotic theory in nature, which explains the origin of eukaryotic cell organelles such as mitochondria and plastids from individual prokaryotes.

(Text and image from Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.)

Taxonomy ID 59799

Data source LNCC

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