Acta Protozoologica 

About: Acta Protozoologica is an academic journal published by Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Ciliata & Testate amoebae. It has an ISSN identifier of 0065-1583. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 1318 publications have been published receiving 15836 citations.

Biogeography and Dispersal of Micro-organisms: A Review Emphasizing Protists

Abstract: This review summarizes data on the biogeography and dispersal of bacteria, microfungi and selected protists, such as dinoflagellates, chrysophytes, testate amoebae, and ciliates. Furthermore, it introduces the restricted distribution and dispersal of mosses, ferns and macrofungi as arguments into the discussion on the postulated cosmopolitism and ubiquity of protists. Estimation of diversity and distribution of micro-organisms is greatly disturbed by undersampling, the scarcity of taxonomists, and the frequency of misidentifications. Thus, probably more than 50% of the actual diversity has not yet been described in many protist groups. Notwithstanding, it has been shown that a restricted geographic distribution of micro-organisms occurs in limnetic, marine, terrestrial, and fossil ecosystems. Similar as, in cryptogams and macrofungi about, 30% of the extant suprageneric taxa, described and undescribed, might be morphological and/or genetic and/or molecular endemics. At the present state of knowledge, micro-organism endemicity can be proved/disproved mainly by flagship species, excluding sites (e.g., university ponds) prone to be contaminated by invaders. In future, genetic and molecular data will be increasingly helpful. The wide distribution of many micro-organisms has been attributed to their small size and their astronomical numbers. However, this interpretation is flawed by data from macrofungi, mosses and ferns, many of which occupy distinct areas, in spite of their minute and abundant means of dispersal (spores). Thus, I suggest historic events (split of Pangaea etc.), limited cyst viability and, especially, time as major factors for dispersal and provinciality of micro-organisms. Furthermore, the true number of species and their distribution can hardly be estimated by theories and statistics but require reliable investigations on the number of morphospecies in representative ecosystems. Generally, the doubts on Beijerinck's famous metaphor "in micro-organisms everything is everywhere" can be focussed on a simple question: If the world is teeming with cosmopolitan unicells, where is everybody?

A Century of Research on the Amoeboflagellate Genus Naegleria

Abstract: Summary. The amoeboflagellate genus Naegleria contains pathogenic and nonpathogenic species. As most species are morphologically indistinguishable, species are defined and identified by molecular methods. For routine identification, isoenzyme analyses are performed. For the description of a new species, sequences of ribosomal DNA are increasingly used and the analyses of these sequences also allow us to define the phylogenetic relationships between species and strains. In the present monograph 27 Naegleria lineages are discussed and identified as separate species. Using molecular methods, Naegleria spp. have been identified which either form dividing flagellates or which do not form flagellates at all, thus contradicting the accepted definition of the genus. Willaertia, which forms dividing flagellates, is the genus that is the closest relative of the genus Naegleria. The genus Naegleria has some particularities in its molecular biology, such as circular ribosomal DNA plasmids, group I introns in the small and large subunit ribosomal DNA, and an unusual pyrophosphate-dependant phosphofructokinase. The phylogeny of the Naegleria spp. is compared to the situation concerning the other genera of the familyVahlkampfiidae. Also discussed is the state of affairs concerning species designation based on phylogeny in the genus Acanthamoeba, another free-living amoeba with species pathogenic to man.

Biodiversity and Biocomplexity of the Protists and an Overview of Their Significant Roles in Maintenance of Our Biosphere

Abstract: Summary. The ubiquitous and very numerous protists, eukaryotic organisms mostly unicellular in structure and small in size, play numerous roles of importance that are often neglected or overlooked in biodiversity, biocomplexity, and conservation considerations of life on planet Earth. The present review article reminds readers, who hopefully include general biologists and other scientists as well as persons engaged directly in research activities that primarily involve solely protists (e.g. diverse studies on species belonging mainly to many individual groups of algae or protozoa), of such roles whether they be in areas directly or indirectly beneficial to human comfort and survival or in ones deleterious to our health and welfare. Matters become complex when multiple interactions are part of the overall picture (e.g. in food webs or in symbiotic relationships). Clearly, our far from complete knowledge of protistan taxonomic and phylogenetic interrelationships, as well as of their ecology, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular and evolutionary biology, hinders rapid progress in better understanding of their multiple roles in sustaining todayis biosphere.