Spirocuta

Spirocuta
Cell exhibiting 'euglenoid motion' or metaboly, characteristic of this clade
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Phylum: Euglenozoa
Class: Euglenida
Clade: Spirocuta
Cavalier-Smith, 2016[1]
Orders[2][3]
Synonyms
  • Helicales Paerschke et al., 2017[4]

Spirocuta (from Latin spira 'coil, spire' and cutis 'skin') is a clade of euglenids, single-celled eukaryotes or protists belonging to the phylum Euglenozoa. They are distinguished from other euglenids by active deformation of their cell shape, a process called euglenid motion or metaboly. This is made possible by a high number of spirally arranged protein strips that run below their cell membrane and confer the cell with flexibility. These strips compose the helicoidal pellicle, a trait referenced by the alternative name Helicales.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Higher Euglenozoa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lax Cho Keeling 2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kostygov 2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Stefan Paerschke; Almut H. Vollmer; Angelika Preisfeld (8 May 2017). "Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical investigation of paramylon combined with new 18S rDNA-based secondary structure analysis clarifies phylogenetic affiliation of Entosiphon sulcatum (Euglenida: Euglenozoa)". Organisms Diversity and Evolution. 17 (1): 509–520. doi:10.1007/S13127-017-0330-X. ISSN 1439-6092. Wikidata Q125677096.