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Protosteloid Amoebae (Protosteliida, Protosporangiida, Cavosteliida, Schizoplasmodiida, Fractoviteliida, and Sporocarpic Members of Vannellida, Centramoebida, and Pellitida)

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Handbook of the Protists

Abstract

Protosteloid amoebozoans, formerly called protostelids, are a non-monophyletic assemblage of Amoebozoa where, at one point in their development, an amoeba rounds up on the surface of a substrate and develops into a subaerial fruiting body, or sporocarp. The sporocarp consists of a noncellular, microscopic stalk bearing one to a few terminal spores. Amoeboid states of protosteloid amoebae vary considerably in morphology, and many species have life cycles that include both amoeboflagellates, a cell type that can reversibly transform from amoeba to flagellate, and obligate amoebae, a cell type that exists only as an amoeba. Protosteloid development was first recognized in Protostelium mycophaga and has been observed in perhaps 100 species, roughly 40 of which are formally named. Protosteloid amoebae are predators of decomposer bacteria and fungi in terrestrial ecosystems. They are global in distribution. Most are quite easy to isolate and to bring into culture, thus facilitating developmental studies. Sporocarpy, as a mode of development, is found in protosteloid amoebae and in myxogastrids; it is exclusive to Amoebozoa. This raises the question whether it is a homologous process or whether it has arisen independently multiple times within Amoebozoa. If the former proves to be the case, it would suggest that the last common ancestor of Amoebozoa must have had a sporocarp in its life cycle.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Joyce Feldman for her assistance on some of the work reported here from the first edition of the Handbook. We would also like to thank Jeffrey Silberman for his participation in much of the molecular work reported in this update. Portions of the work were supported by the National Science Foundation grants BSR83-07376, BSR86-00639, BSR89-00190, DEB-039102, DEB-0316284, and DEB-1456054, a grant from the National Geographic Society, and a grant from the Arkansas Biosciences Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences Science and Engineering, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, 72701, USA

    Frederick W. Spiegel, Lora L. Shadwick & John D. Shadwick

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, 75 B.S. Hood Dr, Starkville, MS, 39762, USA

    Matthew W. Brown

  3. Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, 116 St & 85 Ave, Edmonton, Canada

    Maria Aguilar

  4. Department of Environmental Studies, Karatina University, Karatina, 1957-1010, Kenya

    George G. Ndiritu

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  1. Frederick W. Spiegel
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  5. Maria Aguilar
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  6. John D. Shadwick
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Correspondence to Frederick W. Spiegel .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    John M. Archibald

  2. Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Alastair G.B. Simpson

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University , Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Claudio H. Slamovits

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Spiegel, F.W., Shadwick, L.L., Ndiritu, G.G., Brown, M.W., Aguilar, M., Shadwick, J.D. (2017). Protosteloid Amoebae (Protosteliida, Protosporangiida, Cavosteliida, Schizoplasmodiida, Fractoviteliida, and Sporocarpic Members of Vannellida, Centramoebida, and Pellitida). In: Archibald, J., Simpson, A., Slamovits, C. (eds) Handbook of the Protists. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28149-0_12

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