''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family

Trypanosomatidae Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid unicellular organisms distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek ''trypano'' (borer) and ''soma'' (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosoma ...

. It is a monoxenous parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their

hindgut The hindgut (or epigaster) is the posterior ( caudal) part of the alimentary canal. In mammals, it includes the distal one third of the transverse colon and the splenic flexure, the descending colon, sigmoid colon and up to the ano-rectal junct ...

and glands.

Characteristics

In addition to ''Blastocrithidia'', one-host trypanosomatids from

hemipteran Hemiptera (; ) is an order of insects, commonly called true bugs, comprising more than 80,000 species within groups such as the cicadas, aphids, planthoppers, leafhoppers, assassin bugs, bed bugs, and shield bugs. They range in size from to ...

and

dipteran Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced ...

insects have been traditionally placed in genera ''

Crithidia ''Crithidia'' is a genus of trypanosomatid Euglenozoa. They are parasites that exclusively parasitise arthropods, mainly insects. They pass from host to host as cysts in infective faeces and typically, the parasites develop in the digestive trac ...

'', '' Leptomonas'', '' Herpetomonas'', '' Rhynchoidomonas'', and '' Wallaceina''. ''Blastocrithidia'' is characterized by

epimastigote Trypanosomatida is a group of kinetoplastid unicellular organisms distinguished by having only a single flagellum. The name is derived from the Greek ''trypano'' (borer) and ''soma'' (body) because of the corkscrew-like motion of some trypanosoma ...

morphological forms, whereas opisthomastigotes and endomastigotes are exclusive features of the genera ''Herpetomonas'' and ''Wallaceina'', respectively. ''Blastocrithidia'' is also able to produce resistant cysts.

Systematics

The

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

of the genus name ''Blastocrithidia'' derives from the two

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

words (), meaning "sprout, scion, child or descendant", and (), meaning "small grain of barley". The genus includes the following species. * '' Blastocrithidia caliroae'' Lipa, Carl & Valentine 1977 * '' Blastocrithidia cyrtomeni'' Caicedo et al. 2011 * '' Blastocrithidia euschisti'' Hanson & McGhee * '' Blastocrithidia familiaris'' Tieszen et al. 1986 * ''

Blastocrithidia gerridis ''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family Trypanosomatidae. It is a Monoxenous development, monoxenous parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands. Characteristics I ...

'' (Patton 1908) Laird 1959 * '' Blastocrithidia largi'' Maslov and Lukes 2010 * '' Blastocrithidia leptocoridis'' (McCulloch 1915) * '' Blastocrithidia miridarum'' Podlipaev & Frolov 1987 * '' Blastocrithidia papi'' Frolov and Kostygov, 2016 * '' Blastocrithidia raabei'' Lipa 1966 * ''

Blastocrithidia triatomae ''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family Trypanosomatidae. It is a Monoxenous development, monoxenous parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands. Characteristics I ...

'' Cerisola et al. 1971 * '' Blastocrithidia vagoi'' Tuzet & Laporte 1965 * '' Blastocrithidia nonstop'' Votýpka & Lukeš, sp. nov.

Genomics

Genetic code

''Blastocrithidia'' uses in its

nuclear genome Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. It ...

an alternative genetic code characterized by all three canonical

stop codon In molecular biology, a stop codon (or termination codon) is a codon (nucleotide triplet within messenger RNA) that signals the termination of the translation process of the current protein. Most codons in messenger RNA correspond to the additio ...

s reassigned to sense codons.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q9174253 Trypanosomatida Parasitic excavates Euglenozoa genera Taxa described in 1959