The flagellates of the termite Hodotermopsis sjoestedti: Immunological and ultrastructural characterization of four new species in the genera Spirotrichonympha, Spironympha and Microjoenia

Four species of spirotrichonymphids representing three genera Spirotrichonympha, Spironympha and Microjoenia symbiotic in the termite Hodotermopsis sjoestedti, have been studied by light and immunofluorescence microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The genus Spirotrichonympha represented by Spirotrichonympha cincta n. sp. is characterized by a compound axostyle composed of several fibers or subaxostyles, and this species has peculiar undescribed structures associated with the flagellar lines. The genus Spironympha is characterized by flagellar lines restricted to the anterior area and a simple tubular axostyle limited by 1-3 layers of microtubules. The two new Spironympha species Spironympha obtusa and Spironympha oblonga are distinguished by peculiarities in the flagellar lines and the axostyle, as revealed by immunofluorescence and electron microscopy. The genus Microjoenia represented by Microjoenia minuta n. sp. has radiating flagellar lines and an axostyle with two microtubular rows originating from the pelta-axostyle rows covering the anterior cap. Four new species were named and one was assigned to the SSU rRNA sequences provided by the molecular phylogenetic studies by Ohkuma et al. [2000. Phylogenetic identification of hypermastigotes, Pseudotrichonympha, Spirotrichonympha, Holomastigotes, and parabasalian symbionts in the hindgut of termites. J. Eukaryot. Microbiol. 47, 249-259; 2005. Molecular phylogeny of parabasalids inferred from small subunit rRNA sequences, with emphasis on the Hypermastigea. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 35, 646-655].