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Nucleariid Genera
The nucleariids, or nucleariid amoebae, are a group of amoebae that compose the sister clade of the fungi. Together, they form the clade Holomycota. They are aquatic organisms found in freshwater and marine habitats, as well as in faeces. They are free-living phagotrophic predators that mostly consume algae and bacteria. Nucleariids are characterized by simple, spherical or flattened single-celled bodies with filopodia (fine, thread-like pseudopods), covered by a mucous coat. They lack flagella and microtubules. Inside the cytoplasm of some species are endosymbiotic proteobacteria. Some species are naked, with only the mucous coat as cover, while others (known as 'scaled' nucleariids) have silica-based or exogenous particles of various shapes. An exceptional nucleariid, '' Fonticula alba'', develops multicellular fruting bodies ( sorocarps) for spore dispersal. It is one of several cases of independently evolved multicellularity within Opisthokonta, the clade that houses both ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genera
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. '' Panthera leo'' (lion) and '' Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clearly demonstrate both monophyly and validity as a separate lineag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sorocarp
A sorocarp (from the Greek word ''soros'' "a heap" + ''karpos'' "fruit") is the fruiting body characteristic of certain cellular slime moulds (e.g., Dictyosteliida). Each sorocarp consists of both a sorophore (stalk) and a sorus.Lawrence, E. 2005. Henderson's Dictionary of Biology, 13th Ed. Prentice Hall, London Sorocarps release spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...s. References Mycetozoa {{microbiology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mycologist
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and infection. Yeasts are among the most heavily utilized members of the fungus kingdom, particularly in food manufacturing. Mycology branches into the field of phytopathology, the study of plant diseases. The two disciplines are closely related, because the vast majority of plant pathogens are fungi. A biologist specializing in mycology is called a mycologist. Overview The word ''mycology'' comes from the Ancient Greek: μύκης (''mukēs''), meaning "fungus" and the suffix (''-logia''), meaning "study." Pioneer mycologists included Elias Magnus Fries, Christiaan Hendrik Persoon, Heinrich Anton de Bary, Elizabeth Eaton Morse, and Lewis David de Schweinitz. Beatrix Potter, author of '' The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', also made signific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Order (biology)
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized by the nomenclature codes. An immediately higher rank, superorder, is sometimes added directly above order, with suborder directly beneath order. An order can also be defined as a group of related families. What does and does not belong to each order is determined by a taxonomist, as is whether a particular order should be recognized at all. Often there is no exact agreement, with different taxonomists each taking a different position. There are no hard rules that a taxonomist needs to follow in describing or recognizing an order. Some taxa are accepted almost universally, while others are recognized only rarely. The name of an order is usually written with a capital letter. For some groups of organisms, their orders may follow consist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Class (biology)
In biological classification, class () is a taxonomic rank, as well as a taxonomic unit, a taxon, in that rank. It is a group of related taxonomic orders. Other well-known ranks in descending order of size are domain, kingdom, phylum, order, family, genus, and species, with class ranking between phylum and order. History The class as a distinct rank of biological classification having its own distinctive name – and not just called a ''top-level genus'' ''(genus summum)'' – was first introduced by French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort in the classification of plants that appeared in his '' Eléments de botanique'' of 1694. Insofar as a general definition of a class is available, it has historically been conceived as embracing taxa that combine a distinct ''grade'' of organization—i.e. a 'level of complexity', measured in terms of how differentiated their organ systems are into distinct regions or sub-organs—with a distinct ''type'' of construction, whic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clade
In biology, a clade (), also known as a Monophyly, monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that is composed of a common ancestor and all of its descendants. Clades are the fundamental unit of cladistics, a modern approach to taxonomy adopted by most biological fields. The common ancestor may be an individual, a population, or a species (extinct or Extant taxon, extant). Clades are nested, one in another, as each branch in turn splits into smaller branches. These splits reflect evolutionary history as populations diverged and evolved independently. Clades are termed ''monophyletic'' (Greek: "one clan") groups. Over the last few decades, the cladistic approach has revolutionized biological classification and revealed surprising evolutionary relationships among organisms. Increasingly, taxonomists try to avoid naming Taxon, taxa that are not clades; that is, taxa that are not Monophyly, monophyletic. Some of the relationships between organisms that the molecul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Molecular Phylogenetics
Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to determine the processes by which diversity among species has been achieved. The result of a molecular phylogenetics, phylogenetic analysis is expressed in a phylogenetic tree. Molecular phylogenetics is one aspect of molecular systematics, a broader term that also includes the use of molecular data in Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy and biogeography. Molecular phylogenetics and molecular evolution correlate. Molecular evolution is the process of selective changes (mutations) at a molecular level (genes, proteins, etc.) throughout various branches in the tree of life (evolution). Molecular phylogenetics makes inferences of the evolutionary relationships that arise due to molecular evolution and results in the construction of a phylogenetic tre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electron Microscopy
An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing it to produce magnified images or electron diffraction patterns. As the wavelength of an electron can be up to 100,000 times smaller than that of visible light, electron microscopes have a much higher resolution of about 0.1 nm, which compares to about 200 nm for light microscopes. ''Electron microscope'' may refer to: * Transmission electron microscope (TEM) where swift electrons go through a thin sample * Scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM) which is similar to TEM with a scanned electron probe * Scanning electron microscope (SEM) which is similar to STEM, but with thick samples * Electron microprobe similar to a SEM, but more for chemical analysis * Low-energy electron microscope (LEEM), used to image surfaces * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acrasid
The family Acrasidae (ICZN, or Acrasiomycota, ICBN) is a family of slime molds which belongs to the excavate group Heterolobosea. The name element - comes from the Greek ''akrasia'', meaning "acting against one's judgement". This group consists of cellular slime molds. The terms "Acrasiomycota" or "Acrasiomycetes" have been used when the group was classified as a fungus ("-mycota"). In some classifications, ''Dictyostelium'' was placed in Acrasiomycetes, an artificial group of cellular slime molds, which was characterized by the aggregation of individual amoebae into a multicellular fruiting body, making it an important factor that related the acrasids to the dictyostelids. Each cell keeps its individuality even when it forms a stalk and fruiting body to reproduce. Slime molds were originally thought to be in a monophyletic group ''Mycetozoa'', with little distinction between ''Acrasis'' and ''Dictyostelids'', however scientists uncovered that they were distinct groups, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fonticula
''Fonticula'' is a genus of cellular slime mold which forms a fruiting body in a volcano shape. As long ago as 1979 it has been known to not have a close relationship with either the Dictyosteliida or the Acrasidae, the two well-established groups of cellular slime molds. In 1979, ''Fonticula'' was made a new genus of its own due to the unique characteristics of its fruiting body, with only one species: ''Fonticula alba''. The life cycle of ''Fonticula alba'' alternates between an amoeboid vegetative stage and aggregative fruiting stage. The fruiting body of the genus has a unique shape, as its sorocarp resembles a volcano and sorus looks like a ball of hot lava emerging from that volcano. Molecular phylogenies have found alignments in genes of ''Fonticula alba'' to subgroups in Opisthokonta. A 2009 study has found that ''Fonticula'' is the sister taxa to ''Nuclearia'', thus making it related to the kingdom Fungi. ''Fonticula'', ''Nuclearia'', and Fungi have been united into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slime Mold
Slime mold or slime mould is an informal name given to a polyphyletic assemblage of unrelated eukaryotic organisms in the Stramenopiles, Rhizaria, Discoba, Amoebozoa and Holomycota clades. Most are near-microscopic; those in the Myxogastria form larger plasmodial slime molds visible to the naked eye. The slime mold life cycle includes a free-living single-celled stage and the formation of spores. Spores are often produced in macroscopic multicellular or multinucleate fruiting bodies that may be formed through aggregation or fusion; aggregation is driven by chemical signals called acrasins. Slime molds contribute to the decomposition of dead vegetation; some are parasitic. Most slime molds are terrestrial and free-living, typically in damp shady habitats such as in or on the surface of rotting wood. Some myxogastrians and protostelians are aquatic or semi-aquatic. The phytomyxea are parasitic, living inside their plant hosts. Geographically, slime molds are cosmopo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Family (biology)
Family (, : ) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between order and genus. A family may be divided into subfamilies, which are intermediate ranks between the ranks of family and genus. The official family names are Latin in origin; however, popular names are often used: for example, walnut trees and hickory trees belong to the family Juglandaceae, but that family is commonly referred to as the "walnut family". The delineation of what constitutes a family—or whether a described family should be acknowledged—is established and decided upon by active taxonomists. There are not strict regulations for outlining or acknowledging a family, yet in the realm of plants, these classifications often rely on both the vegetative and reproductive characteristics of plant species. Taxonomists frequently hold varying perspectives on these descriptions, leading to a lack of widespread consensus within the scientific community ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
