Hoilungia
| Hoilungia | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Placozoa |
| Class: | Uniplacotomia |
| Order: | Hoilungea |
| Family: | Hoilungidae |
| Genus: | Hoilungia Eitel, Schierwater & Wörheide, 2018 |
| Species: | H. hongkongensis
|
| Binomial name | |
| Hoilungia hongkongensis Eitel, Schierwater & Wörheide, 2018
| |
Hoilungia hongkongensis is a species in the phylum Placozoa.[1][2] The organism appears superficially similar to Trichoplax adhaerens, but genetic analysis of its mitochondrial DNA shows numerous differences.[1] It was discovered in brackish water from mangrove swamps in Hong Kong.[3] These organisms are generally found in the biofilm surfaces in tropical and subtropical environments. Phylogenetically, they are placed closest to cnidarians. They are diploblastic animals and are believed to have dorso-ventral polarity along top and bottom body layers. Their body is overtly similar to oral-aboral axis of cnidarians. They feed from lower tissue layer which has various peptidergic gland cells. They feed on algae, bacteria, yeast and other byproducts of bilfilms. They reproduce asexually through binary fission and there is also some evidence of sexual reproduction. [4] The Hoilungia hongkongensis genome adds support to the phylogenetic placement of the Placozoa in the animal tree of life[5]
Natural History
Over a long time, only a single species of placozoan clades,Trichoplax adhaerens, was described but lately, it has been found that the relatively newer species, 'Hoilungia hongkongensis' is a result of reproductive isolation mechanism of speciation. [6]
Nitric Oxide Signaling
Hoilungia and Trichoplax are considered one of the earliest branching animal lineages, and have relatively simple morphologies their complexity of NO-cGMP-mediated signaling is greater to those in vertebrates. This evidence has been found in their DNA by experimentation using ultra-sensitive capillary electrophoresis assays. [7]
Etymology
The genus name is derived from the phrase "hoi lung", which means "sea dragon" in Cantonese.[1]
Structure
The body axis of Trichoplax and the new placozoan species, Hoilungia hongkongensis, is overtly similar to the oral–aboral axis of cnidarians.[8]
References
- ^ a b c Eitel, M (31 July 2018). "Comparative genomics and the nature of placozoan species". PLOS Biology. 16 (7): e2005359. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005359. PMC 6067683. PMID 30063702.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ World Placozoa Database. "Hoilungia hongkongensis Eitel, Schierwater & Wörheide, 2018". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ Wood, C (6 October 2018). "World's simplest animal reveals hidden diversity". Quanta Magazine.
- ^ Timothy Q DuBuc, Joseph F Ryan, Mark Q Martindale, “Dorsal–Ventral” Genes Are Part of an Ancient Axial Patterning System: Evidence from Trichoplax adhaerens (Placozoa), Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 36, Issue 5, May 2019, Pages 966–973, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msz025
- ^ Eitel, Michael; Francis, Warren R.; Varoqueaux, Frédérique; Daraspe, Jean; Osigus, Hans-Jürgen; Krebs, Stefan; Vargas, Sergio; Blum, Helmut; Williams, Gray A.; Schierwater, Bernd; Wörheide, Gert (2018-07-31). "Comparative genomics and the nature of placozoan species". PLOS Biology. 16 (7): e2005359. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005359. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 6067683. PMID 30063702.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link) CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Francis, Warren R., et al. “Comparative Genomics and the Nature of Placozoan Species.” PLoS Biology., vol. 16, no. 7, Public Library of Science,, doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.2005359.
- ^ Francis, Warren R., Frederique Varoqueaux, Jean Daraspe, Hans-Juergen Osigus, Michael Eitel, Warren R Francis, Frédérique Varoqueaux, et al. “Comparative Genomics and the Nature of Placozoan Species.” PLoS biology. 16, no. 7 (n.d.).
- ^ DuBuc, Timothy Q; Ryan, Joseph F; Martindale, Mark Q (2019-05-01). ""Dorsal–Ventral" Genes Are Part of an Ancient Axial Patterning System: Evidence from Trichoplax adhaerens (Placozoa)". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 36 (5): 966–973. doi:10.1093/molbev/msz025. ISSN 0737-4038.
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