Warnowiaceae

The Warnowiaceae are a family of athecate dinoflagellates (a diverse group of unicellular eukaryotes). Members of the family are known as warnowiids. The family is best known for a light-sensitive subcellular structure known as the ocelloid, a highly complex arrangement of organelles with a structure directly analogous to the eyes of multicellular organisms. The ocelloid has been shown to be composed of multiple types of endosymbionts, namely mitochondria and at least one type of plastid.[2]

Warnowiaceae
A light micrograph of an ocelloid-containing dinoflagellate from the genus Proterythropsis. The nucleus is marked n, the ocelloid is indicated with a double arrowhead, and a posterior cell extension is indicated with an arrow; scale bar = 10 µm.[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Chromista
Superphylum: Alveolata
Phylum: Myzozoa
Superclass: Dinoflagellata
Class: Dinophyceae
Order: Gymnodiniales
Family: Warnowiaceae
Genera
  • Erythropsidinium
  • Greuetodinium
  • Nematodinium
  • Nematopsides
  • Pouchetia
  • Proterythropsis
  • Protopsis
  • Warnowia

Habitat and life cycle

Warnowiids are found in marine plankton but are very rare in most plankton samples. Little is known about their life histories because they cannot be cultured in the laboratory, and samples obtained from the natural environment do not survive well under laboratory conditions. Studies of wild samples have found evidence of distinctive structures called trichocysts in warnowiid cell vacuoles, suggesting that their prey might be other dinoflagellates. Despite the complexity of the ocelloid, the experimental difficulty of working with the cells has prevented experimental study of light-directed behavior such as phototaxis.[2]

Taxonomy

The family contains eight recognized genera.[3] Descriptions of genera and species within the family have been complicated by complex morphological changes during the life cycle and in response to the environment, and the systematics of this group is not currently well defined.[1]

Subcellular structures

The warnowiids as a group possess unusually complex subcellular structures. The ocelloid light sensitive structure is recognized as a synapomorphic character of warnowiids.[1]

Other complex subcellular structures, such as nematocysts, trichocysts, and pistons, are present in some (but not all) warnowiids and are shared with the polykrikoid dinoflagellates, the closest extant relatives as defined by molecular phylogenetics.[1][4]

Ocelloid function and origin

The ocelloid of warnowiids functions similarly to eyes found in much larger organisms, containing structures similar to a retina and lens. It is receptive only to the polarized light that is created as light passes through the thecal plates of other dinoflagellates.[2] Because dinoflagellates are the main source of food for warnowiids, this trait is particularly useful for locating prey.


A gene fragment that is expressed in the rhodopsin of the retinal body of the ocelloid has been shown to be most closely related to those of bacteria, suggesting a bacterial endosymbiont as the origin of the organelle.[5]

Warnowiids
  • An isolate of Erythropsidinium. Scale bar 20 µm.
  • An isolate of Nematodinium. Scale bar 10 µm.
  • An isolate of Warnowia. Scale bar 10 µm.
Double arrows indicate the ocelloid, single arrow indicates the piston, n indicates the nucleus.[1]

References
  1. Hoppenrath, M; Bachvaroff, TR; Handy, SM; Delwiche, CF; Leander, BS (25 May 2009). "Molecular phylogeny of ocelloid-bearing dinoflagellates (Warnowiaceae) as inferred from SSU and LSU rDNA sequences". BMC Evolutionary Biology. 9: 116. doi:10.1186/1471-2148-9-116. PMC 2694157. PMID 19467154.
  2. Gregory S. Gavelis, Shiho Hayakawa, Richard A. White III, Takashi Gojobori, Curtis A. Suttle, Patrick J. Keeling, Brian S. Leander (2015). "Eye-like ocelloids are built from different endosymbiotically acquired components". Nature. 523 (7559): 204–7. Bibcode:2015Natur.523..204G. doi:10.1038/nature14593. hdl:10754/566109. PMID 26131935. S2CID 4462376.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. Guiry, M.D.; Guiry, G.M. (2021). "Warnowiaceae". AlgaeBase. National University of Ireland, Galway. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  4. GÓMEZ, FERNANDO; LÓPEZ-GARCÍA, PURIFICACIÓN; MOREIRA, DAVID (September 2009). "Molecular Phylogeny of the Ocelloid-Bearing Dinoflagellates and (Warnowiaceae, Dinophyceae)". Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 56 (5): 440–445. doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2009.00420.x. PMID 19737196. S2CID 41132911.
  5. Hayakawa, Shiho; Takaku, Yasuharu; Hwang, Jung Shan; Horiguchi, Takeo; Suga, Hiroshi; Gehring, Walter; Ikeo, Kazuho; Gojobori, Takashi (2015-03-03). "Function and Evolutionary Origin of Unicellular Camera-Type Eye Structure". PLOS ONE. 10 (3): e0118415. Bibcode:2015PLoSO..1018415H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0118415. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 4348419. PMID 25734540.
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