Bikont

Bikonts
A radiolarian
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Bikonta
Cavalier-Smith, 1993
Subgroups

Apusozoa
Rhizaria
Excavata
Archaeplastida
Chromalveolata

Synonyms
  • Biciliata Cavalier-Smith, 1993
  • Diaphoretickes Adl et al., 2012
  • Diphoda Derelle et al., 2015

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.

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.

The genes are separately translated in unikonts.

References

  1. ↑ 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.
  2. ↑ 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.