Trichonympha is a genus of parabasalian
protistProtists , are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista but this group is no longer recognized in modern taxonomy...
s that live in the intestines of many, if not most,
termiteThe termites are a group of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera . Along with ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labour among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of...
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
. They are important symbiotes, in that they break down the
celluloseCellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
in the wood and plant fibers their hosts eat.
Trichonympha resembles teardrops or pears that are wearing wigs. They are extremely motile, and feed by engulfing wood and plant fibers through
phagocytosisPhagocytosis is the cellular process of phagocytes and protists of engulfing solid particles by the cell membrane to form an internal phagosome...
, which always occurs at the broad ends of their bodies.
As beguiling as a relationship between a wood-eating insect (xylophagus) and its wood-digesting symbiote may seem, further investigations of
Trichonympha reveals even more mind-boggling situations.
By itself,
Trichonympha lacks the ability to produce
cellulaseCellulase refers to a class of enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze the cellulolysis of cellulose. However, there are also cellulases produced by other types of organisms such as plants and animals. Several different kinds of cellulases are known, which differ...
, it requires bacterial endosymbiotes to produce the
cellulaseCellulase refers to a class of enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze the cellulolysis of cellulose. However, there are also cellulases produced by other types of organisms such as plants and animals. Several different kinds of cellulases are known, which differ...
to digest its food.
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Trichonympha is a genus of parabasalian
protistProtists , are a diverse group of eukaryotic microorganisms. Historically, protists were treated as the kingdom Protista but this group is no longer recognized in modern taxonomy...
s that live in the intestines of many, if not most,
termiteThe termites are a group of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera . Along with ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labour among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and take care of...
speciesIn biology, a species is:* a taxonomic rank or* a unit at that rank ....
. They are important symbiotes, in that they break down the
celluloseCellulose is an organic compound with the formula , a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β linked D-glucose units....
in the wood and plant fibers their hosts eat.
Trichonympha resembles teardrops or pears that are wearing wigs. They are extremely motile, and feed by engulfing wood and plant fibers through
phagocytosisPhagocytosis is the cellular process of phagocytes and protists of engulfing solid particles by the cell membrane to form an internal phagosome...
, which always occurs at the broad ends of their bodies.
As beguiling as a relationship between a wood-eating insect (xylophagus) and its wood-digesting symbiote may seem, further investigations of
Trichonympha reveals even more mind-boggling situations.
By itself,
Trichonympha lacks the ability to produce
cellulaseCellulase refers to a class of enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze the cellulolysis of cellulose. However, there are also cellulases produced by other types of organisms such as plants and animals. Several different kinds of cellulases are known, which differ...
, it requires bacterial endosymbiotes to produce the
cellulaseCellulase refers to a class of enzymes produced chiefly by fungi, bacteria, and protozoans that catalyze the cellulolysis of cellulose. However, there are also cellulases produced by other types of organisms such as plants and animals. Several different kinds of cellulases are known, which differ...
to digest its food. It also has spirochete ectosymbiotes embedded in its
cell membraneThe cell membrane is the biological membrane separating the interior of a cell from the outside environment....
, together with its flagella these symbiotes give their host its characteristic "wiggy" appearance to grant it motility. The relationship with the spirochetes is particularly intriguing, as researchers are unsure whether the spirochetes move their host around, in the manner a group of excited
dogThe dog is a domesticated form of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history...
s drag around their dog-walker, or if
Trichonympha "commands" them to move it around, much like a charioteer controls the horses of his chariot.
Another, extremely similar metamonad termite symbiote is
Mixotricha paradoxaMixotricha paradoxa is a species of protozoan that lives inside the termite species Mastotermes darwiniensis and has multiple bacterial symbionts. The name, given by the Australian biologist J.L. Sutherland, who first described Mixotricha in 1933, means “the paradoxical being with mixed-up...