''Andalucia'' is a genus of

jakobid Jakobida is an order (sole order in the class Jakobea) of free-living, heterotrophic, flagellar eukaryotes in the clade Discoba. They are small (less than 15 μm), and can be found in aerobic and anaerobic environments. The order Jakobida, b ...

s, currently containing the sole species ''Andalucia godoyi''. It has a worldwide distribution.

Classification

The morphology of ''Andalucia'' broadly resembles that of other

s. Molecular data has not always been conclusive, but recent phylogenomic analyses indicate that ''Andalucia'' is a sister group to the other jakobids, or, in other words, more closely related to them than to the

Heterolobosea Heterolobosea are a class of Percolozoa. The only member of this class that is infectious to humans is '' Naegleria fowleri'', the causative agent of the often fatal disease amoebic meningitis. Typically, their life cycle alternates between fl ...

Euglenozoa Euglenozoa are a large group of flagellate Discoba. They include a variety of common free-living species, as well as a few important parasites, some of which infect humans. Euglenozoa are represented by four major groups, ''i.e.,'' Kinetoplastea, ...

(the other two groups in the

Discoba Excavata is an obsolete, extensive and diverse Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of unicellular Eukaryote, Eukaryota. The group was first suggested by Simpson and Patterson in 1999 and the name latinized and assigned a rank by Thomas Cavalier-Smit ...

). The α-

tubulin Tubulin in molecular biology can refer either to the tubulin protein superfamily of globular proteins, or one of the member proteins of that superfamily. α- and β-tubulins polymerize into microtubules, a major component of the eukaryotic cytosk ...

gene of ''Andalucia'' more closely resembles that of

opisthokont The opisthokonts () are a broad group of eukaryotes, including both the animal and fungus kingdoms. The opisthokonts, previously called the "Fungi/Metazoa group", are generally recognized as a clade. Opisthokonts together with Apusomonadida and ...

s and

diplomonad The diplomonads (Greek for "two units") are a group of flagellates, most of which are parasitic. They include ''Giardia duodenalis'', which causes giardiasis in humans. They are placed among the metamonads, and appear to be particularly close ...

s than its closer relatives, the apparent result of

horizontal gene transfer Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) or lateral gene transfer (LGT) is the movement of genetic material between organisms other than by the ("vertical") transmission of DNA from parent to offspring (reproduction). HGT is an important factor in the e ...

. As of 2015, the soil

heterotroph A heterotroph (; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but ...

''Andalucia godoyi'' is the only described species in the genus. The species ''

Andalucia incarcerata ''Stygiella incarcerata'' is a species of Excavata. Taxonomy ''Stygiella incarcerata'' was originally described to the genus ''Jakoba'' in 2000, but was moved to the newly created genus ''Andalucia'' in 2006. It was transferred again to the new ...

'', living in

sulfide Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families o ...

-rich marine

intertidal The intertidal zone or foreshore is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide; in other words, it is the part of the littoral zone within the tidal range. This area can include several types of habitats with various sp ...

sediments, was transferred to the genus ''

Stygiella ''Stygiella'' /ˌstɪ.d͡ʒiˈɛ.lə/ is a genus of free-living marine flagellates belonging to the family Stygiellidae in the Jakobids (excavata). The genus currently includes four species, all of which are secondary obligate anaerobes. The s ...

'' in 2015. Analysis of DNA sequences from the environment suggests at least two additional species that have not been isolated or formally described.

References

Eukaryotes Discoba genera Jakobids Taxa described in 2006 {{Eukaryote-stub