Leucodictyids are

heterotrophic 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 ...

amoeboid An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; : amoebas (less commonly, amebas) or amoebae (amebae) ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and r ...

protists A protist ( ) or protoctist is any Eukaryote, eukaryotic organism that is not an animal, Embryophyte, land plant, or fungus. Protists do not form a Clade, natural group, or clade, but are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic grouping of all descendants o ...

that comprise the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

Leucodictyida in the phylum

Cercozoa Cercozoa (now synonymised with Filosa) is a phylum of diverse single-celled eukaryotes. They lack shared morphological characteristics at the microscopic level, and are instead united by phylogeny, molecular phylogenies of rRNA and actin or Ubiqu ...

Morphology

Leucodictyids are biciliate amoebae with branching

filopodia Filopodia (: filopodium) are slender cytoplasmic projections that extend beyond the leading edge of lamellipodia in migrating cells. Within the lamellipodium, actin ribs are known as ''microspikes'', and when they extend beyond the lamellipod ...

that are capable of fusing temporarily with each other to form structures known as meroplasmodia. These filopodia can bear

extrusome Extrusomes are membrane-bound organelles found in eukaryotic cells that are capable of discharging material contained within to the exterior of the cell. Due to the diversity in structure and function, it is unlikely that different types of extruso ...

s, and are appressed to the substrate while supported in part by irregularly arranged

microtubules Microtubules are polymers of tubulin that form part of the cytoskeleton and provide structure and shape to eukaryotic cells. Microtubules can be as long as 50 micrometres, as wide as 23 to 27 nm and have an inner diameter between 11 an ...

. Inside the cell itself, an important characteristic is the presence of tubular mitochondrial cristae.

Taxonomy

Leucodictyida was described in 1993 as a monotypic order containing only the family Leucodictyidae. Later, in 2003, it was emended to also contain the family Massisteriidae. It currently contains a total of 4 genera. *Family Leucodictyidae **'' Leucodictyon'' **'' Reticulamoeba'' *Family Massisteriidae **''

Massisteria ''Massisteria'' is a genus of Cercozoa. They are naked protists with a central cell body from which several delicately thin and stiff pseudopodia extend, each one bearing a small number of granules. Their pseudopodia remain adhered to the substr ...

'' **'' Minimassisteria''

References

External links

{{Rhizaria Rhizaria orders Granofilosea