Projects & Grants
| Taxonomically broad genomic study of oxymonads - eukaryotes without mitochondria | |
|---|---|
| Project Id | 15-16406S |
| Main solver | prof. Mgr. Marek Eliáš, Ph.D. |
| Period | 1/2015 - 12/2017 |
| Provider | Standardní projekt GA ČR |
| State | finished |
| Anotation | Oxymonads and Trimastix (Preaxostyla) represent one of the lines of protist phylum Metamonada, whose members live in oxygen-poor environment and their mitochondria are usually reduced to hydrogenosomes or mitosomes. Preaxostyla do not include human parasites and ecologically important species, but they are remarkable in terms of cell biology because they contain the only known eukaryote devoid of mitochondria. This breaks the paradigm of the last twenty years that this compartment is absolutely essential for eukaryotic cells even when not participating in energy production. Preaxostyla are a morphologically and ecologically diverse group. The main idea of this project lies in the broad genomic study in order to verify the presence or absence of mitochondria in different subgroups in the hope that we could find an organelle that would provide insight into the process of its complete reduction. In the gathered data, we will also seek answers to questions about their sexuality, symbioses, involvement in cellulose digestion in termites and evolution and structure of their genomes. |
