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Citation for Study 752

About Citation title: "Phylogenetic analysis identifies the invertebrate pathogen Helicosporidium sp. as a green alga (Chlorophyta).".
About This study was previously identified under the legacy study ID S604 (Status: Published).

Citation

Tartar A., Boucias D., Adams B., & Becnel J. 2001. Phylogenetic analysis identifies the invertebrate pathogen Helicosporidium sp. as a green alga (Chlorophyta). International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, 52(1): 273-279.

Authors

  • Tartar A.
  • Boucias D.
  • Adams B.
  • Becnel J.

Abstract

Historically, the invertebrate pathogens Helicosporidium spp. were considered to be either protozoa or fungi, but the taxonomic position of this group has not been considered since 1931. Recently, a Helicosporidium sp., isolated from the blackfly Simulium jonesi Stone & Snoddy (Diptera: Simuliidae), has been amplified in the heterologous host Helicoverpa zea. Genomic DNA has been extracted from gradient purified cysts. The 18S, 28S, 5.8S regions of the Helicosporidium ribosomal DNA, as well as partial sequences of the actin and b-tubulin genes, were amplified by PCR and sequenced. Comparative analysis of these nucleotide sequences was performed using Neighbor-Joining and Maximum-Parsimony methods. All inferred phylogenetic trees placed Helicosporidium sp. among green algae (Chlorophyta), and this association was supported by bootstrap and parsimony jackknife values. Phylogenetic analysis focused on green algae depicted Helicosporidium sp. as a close relative of Prototheca wickerhamii and P. zopfii (Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae), two achlorophylous, pathogenic green algae. On the basis of this phylogenetic analysis, Helicosporidium sp. is clearly neither a protist nor a fungus, but appears to be the first described algal invertebrate pathogen. These conclusions lead us to propose the transfer of the genus Helicosporidium to Chlorophyta, Trebouxiophyceae.

Keywords

Helicosporidium; phylogeny; invertebrate pathogen; entomopathogen; green algae

External links

About this resource

  • Canonical resource URI: http://purl.org/phylo/treebase/phylows/study/TB2:S752
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