Fungalpedia – Note 360, Aquastella
Aquastella Glockling & D.P. Molloy
Citation when using this data: Tibpromma et al. 2024 (in prep.) – Fungalpedia, parasites.
Index Fungorum, Facesoffungi, MycoBank, GenBank, Fig. 1
Classification: Incertae sedis, Saprolegniales, Saprolegniidae, Peronosporea, Incertae sedis, Oomycota, Chromista.
The oomycete genus Aquastella was established to accommodate two species; Aquastella attenuata and Aquastella acicularis (Molloy et al. 2014). Aquastella is known as a parasite of three rotifers found in Brooktrout Lake, New York State, USA., and was the first report of oomycete infection in these species. Aquastella attenuata exhibited specificity in Keratella taurocephala and Aquastella acicularis parasitic on Polyarthra vulgaris, and Ploesoma truncatum (Molloy et al. 2014). Sequencing of 18S rRNA and subsequent phylogenetic analysis positioned Aquastella species within the order Saprolegniales by forming a clade closely linked to Aphanomyces (Molloy et al. 2014, 2017). The Aquastella species exhibited distinct morphological features compared to other rotifer parsasites: the developing sporangia penetrated the host body after death, giving rise to distinctive tapered outgrowths; Aquastella attenuata exhibited the production of long, narrow, tapering, finger-like outgrowths, and shorter, spike-like outgrowths. Spore cleavage was intrasporangial with spore release through exit tubes. Aquastella attenuata produces primary zoospores, whereas A. acicularis releases spherical primary aplanospores, which are more typical of other genera in the Aphanomyces clade (Molloy et al. 2014).
Type species: Aquastella attenuata Glockling & D.P. Molloy
Other accepted species: Species Fungorum – search Aquastella
Figure 1 – Morphology of Aquastella. a Thallus inside host. b External outgrowths from maturing thallus. c Zoospores are released from the sporangium via an exit tube. redrawn from Molloy et al. (2014).
References
Entry by
Yang EF, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand; Center for Yunnan Plateau Biological Resources Protection and Utilization, College of Biological Resource and Food Engineering, Qujing Normal University, Qujing, Yunnan 655011, China.
(Edited by Saowaluck Tibpromma, Samaneh Chaharmiri-Dokhaharani, & Achala R. Rathnayaka)
Published online 14 November 2024