''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family
Trypanosomatidae.
It is a
monoxenous parasite of
heteropteran
The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...
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 junc ...
and glands.
Characteristics
In addition to ''Blastocrithidia'', one-host trypanosomatids from
hemipteran and
dipteran 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 ...
'', ''
Leptomonas'', ''
Herpetomonas'', ''
Rhynchoidomonas'', and ''
Wallaceina''.
''Blastocrithidia'' is characterized by
epimastigote 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 () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...
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 ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
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 parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands.
Characteristics
In addition to ''Blasto ...
''
(Patton 1908) Laird
* ''
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 parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands.
Characteristics
In addition to ''Blasto ...
''
Cerisola et al. 1971
* ''
Blastocrithidia vagoi
''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family Trypanosomatidae. It is a monoxenous parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands.
Characteristics
In addition to ''Blasto ...
''
Tuzet & Laporte 1965
* ''
Blastocrithidia nonstop
''Blastocrithidia'' is a genus of parasitic flagellate protist belonging to the family Trypanosomatidae. It is a monoxenous parasite of heteropteran insects, mainly inhabiting their hindgut and glands.
Characteristics
In addition to ''Blasto ...
''
Votýpka & Lukeš, sp. nov.
Genomics
Genetic code
''Blastocrithidia'' uses in its
nuclear genome an
alternative genetic code characterized by all three canonical
stop codon
In molecular biology (specifically protein biosynthesis), 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 ...
s reassigned to sense codons.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q9174253
Trypanosomatida
Parasitic excavates
Euglenozoa genera