Sappinia

Sappinia
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Amoebozoa
Class: Discosea
Order: Thecamoebida
Family: Thecamoebidae
Genus: Sappinia
Dangeard 1896
Type species
Sappinia pedata
Dangeard 1896
Species
  • S. diploidea (Hartmann & Naegler 1908) Alexieff 1912
  • S. pedata Dangeard 1896
  • S. platani Wylezich et al. 2015

Sappinia is a genus of heterotrophic, lobose amoebae within the family Thecamoebidae.[1] A defining feature of Sappinia, which separates it from its sister genus Thecamoeba, is the presence of two closely apposed nuclei with a central, flattened connection.[2][3] Sappinia species have two life cycle stages: a trophozoite and a cyst.[2] Up until 2015, only two species had been discovered, Sappinia pedata and Sappinia diploidea. Sequencing of the small subunit rRNA of a particular isolate from a sycamore tree revealed a new species, Sappinia platani.[4] Sappinia species were once thought to be coprozoic (living in feces), as the first strains were isolated from animal dung.[2] More research has shown that they are typical free-living amoebae, and can be found worldwide in soil, plant litter, and standing decaying plants, as well as freshwater ponds.[1][2] In 2001, the first and only case of human pathogenesis in Sappinia was confirmed.[5] The patient was a non-immunocompromised 38-year-old male who presented signs of amoebic encephalitis and who patient made a full recovery after treatment with several antimicrobials.[5] The CDC initially classified the causative agent as S. diploidea based on morphological characteristics, but in 2009, Qvarnstrom et al. used molecular data to confirm that the true causative agent was S. pedata.

  1. ^ a b Brown, M. W., Spiegel, F. W., & Silberman, J. D. 2007: Amoeba at Attention: Phylogenetic Affinity of Sappinia pedata. The Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, 0(0). doi:10.1111/j.1550-7408.2007.00292.x
  2. ^ a b c d Walochnik, J., Wylezich, C., & Michel, R. 2010: The genus Sappinia: History, phylogeny and medical relevance. Experimental Parasitology, 126(1), 4-13. doi:10.1016/j.exppara.2009.11.017
  3. ^ Michel, R., Wylezich, C., Häuroder, B., & Smirnov, A. V. 2006: Phylogenetic position and notes on the ultrastructure of Sappinia diploidea (Thecamoebidae). Protistology 4(4), 319-325.
  4. ^ Wylezich, C., Walochnik, J., Corsaro, D., Michel, R., & Kudryavtsev., A. 2015: Electron microscopical investigations of a new species of the genus Sappinia (Thecamoebidae, Amoebozoa), Sappinia platani sp. nov., reveal a dictyosome in this genus. Acta Protozool, 54(1), 45-51. doi: 10.4467/16890027AP.15.004.2191
  5. ^ a b Gelman, B. B. 2001: Amoebic Encephalitis Due to Sappinia diploidea. Jama, 285(19), 2450. doi:10.1001/jama.285.19.2450