Nucleophaga is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of eukaryotic

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe, is an organism of microscopic scale, microscopic size, which may exist in its unicellular organism, single-celled form or as a Colony (biology)#Microbial colonies, colony of cells. The possible existence of unseen ...

s that are internal

parasites Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives (at least some of the time) on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The en ...

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

flagellate A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and the ...

s, and

ciliate The ciliates are a group of alveolates characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagellum, eukaryotic flagella, but are in general shorter and present in much larger numbers, with a ...

Morphology and life cycle

''Nucleophaga'' grows within the

nucleus Nucleus (: nuclei) is a Latin word for the seed inside a fruit. It most often refers to: *Atomic nucleus, the very dense central region of an atom *Cell nucleus, a central organelle of a eukaryotic cell, containing most of the cell's DNA Nucleu ...

of its host cell. Its

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 are ingested by the host and migrate to the nucleus. Once in the nucleus, the spores germinate giving rise to naked plasmodia in contact with the host's karyoplasm. It develops

pseudopodia A pseudopod or pseudopodium (: pseudopods or pseudopodia) is a temporary arm-like projection of a eukaryotic cell membrane that is emerged in the direction of movement. Filled with cytoplasm, pseudopodia primarily consist of actin filaments and ...

-like projections that may be involved in

osmotrophy Osmotrophy is a form of heterotrophic nutrition and a cellular feeding mechanism involving the direct absorption of dissolved organic compounds by osmosis. Organisms that use osmotrophy are called osmotrophs. Osmotrophy is used by diverse groups o ...

phagocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell (biology), cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs ph ...

. The ''Nucleophaga'' cells continue to enlarge until a cell wall replaces the projections and the ''Nucleophaga'' cytoplasm is divided into spores.

Taxonomy

Described by Dangeard in 1895, ''Nucleophaga'' was placed in

Olpidiaceae Olpidiaceae is a fungal plant pathogen family of genera that was placed in the order Olpidiales. Taxonomy Based on the work of Philippe Silar and "The Mycota: A Comprehensive Treatise on Fungi as Experimental Systems for Basic and Applied Researc ...

Chytridiales Fungi of the order Chytridiales, like other members of its division, may either have a monocentric thallus or a polycentric rhizomycelium. When the ribosomal genes of members classified in this order were first examined using molecular techniq ...

. Molecular

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies have placed some members in the Cryptomycota/

Rozellomycota Cryptomycota ('hidden fungi'), Rozellida, or Rozellomycota are a clade of micro-organisms that are either fungi or a sister group to fungi. They differ from classical fungi in that they lack chitinous cell walls at any trophic stage in their l ...

Species

As according to a taxonomic summary. * ''

Nucleophaga amoebae Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ingested by the host and ...

'' Dangeard 1895 * ''

Nucleophaga hypertrophica Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasitism, parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the Cell nucleus, nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ...

'' Epstein 1922 * ''

Nucleophaga intestinalis Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ingested by the host and ...

'' Brug 1926 * ''

Nucleophaga peranemae Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ingested by the host and ...

'' Hollande & Balsac 1941 * ''

Nucleophaga ranarum Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ingested by the host and ...

'' Lavier 1935 * ''

Nucleophaga terricolae Nucleophaga is a genus of eukaryotic microorganisms that are internal parasites of amoeba, flagellates, and ciliates. Morphology and life cycle ''Nucleophaga'' grows within the nucleus of its host cell. Its spores are ingested by the host and ...

'' Corsaro et al. 2006

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10604028 Eukaryote genera Holomycota