Bikont
A bikont ("two flagellae") is any eukaryotic organism in the group Bikonta. Many single-celled members of the group, and the presumed ancestor, have two flagella.[1]
Bikonts | |
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A radiolarian | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
(unranked): | Bikonta Cavalier-Smith, 1993 |
Subgroups | |
Synonyms | |
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The TSAR supergroup is a group of Bikonts containing telonemia (T), stramenopiles (S), alveolata (A), and rhizaria (R).
The SAR supergroup is a group of Bikonts containing stramenopiles (S), alveolata (A), and rhizaria (R).
Enzymes
Another shared trait of bikonts is the fusion of two genes into a single unit. The genes for thymidylate synthase (TS) and dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) code for a single protein with two functions.[2]
The genes are separately translated in unikonts.
References
- ↑ Burki F. & Pawlowski J. (2006). "Monophyly of Rhizaria and multigene phylogeny of unicellular bikonts". Mol. Biol. Evol. 23 (10): 1922–30. doi:10.1093/molbev/msl055. PMID 16829542.
- ↑ Cavalier-Smith, Thomas (2006). "Protist phylogeny and the high-level classification of Protozoa". European Journal of Protistology. 39 (4): 338–348. doi:10.1078/0932-4739-00002.