A New Branch of Life?

Researchers investigate a microorganism that may warrant a new eukaryotic kingdom in the classification of life.

Written byJef Akst
| 1 min read

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It’s not a plant. It’s not an animal or fungus. Collodictyon is an algae-eating protozoan found in the sludge of a Norwegian lake. And, sequencing bits of its genome, including its ribosomal DNA, Kamran Shalchian-Tabrizi of the Microbial Evolution Research Group (MERG) at the University of Oslo and colleagues discovered that it’s not like anything else on earth, falling on the tree of life somewhere between single-celled parasites called excavates and amoebas. The organism could thus represent a new kingdom of life, the authors suggested.

“The early and distinct origin of Collodictyon suggests that it constitutes a new lineage in the global eukaryote phylogeny,” the authors wrote in in the journal Molecular Biology Evolution.

Among its obscurities, Collodictyon has four flagella, as opposed to the ...

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  • Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.

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