Amoebophilus

AMOEBOPHILUS Dangeard, 1910 (Le Botaniste 11:57); 6 spp. (Dangeard, 1910).

Spore attaches to a host amoebae germinating from one end to produce a germ tube that pentrates the host and produces a globose or lobate haustorium. Thallus is the original spore. Merosporangia uni- or few-spored. Spores cylindrical with round or more or less acute apices. Zygospores arising from two undifferentiated sexual hyphae, each arising from a different spore; zygospores germinate to produce 1(-3) spores. Possibly heterothallic.

Type species: A. penardii

Species of Amoebophilus:
A. caudatus Dangeard, 1910 (Le Botaniste 11:57) (Korotneff, 1879-1880; Dangeard, 1910).
A. dangeardii Miura, 1978 (Journal of Japanese Botany 53:190) (Miura, 1978).
A. korotneffii Dangeard, 1910 (Le Botaniste 11:57) (Korotneff, 1879-1880; Dangeard, 1910)
A. penardii Dangeard, 1910 (Le Botaniste 11:57) (Dangeard, 1910)
A. sicyosporus Drechsler, 1959 (Mycologia 51:790) (Drechsler, 1959).
A. simplex Barron, 1983 (Canadian Journal of Botany 61:3092) (Barron, 1983).

Amoebophilus (Drechsler, 1957) and Bdellospora (Drechsler, 1935) both are ectoparasitic genera. Drechsler (1959) stated that the merosporangia of A. caudatus and A. korotneffii (Dangeard, 1910, illustrated by Korotneff, 1879-1880) did not posses the distinct constrictions formed by A. sicyosporus. Zygospores were described in the last three species described (Drechsler, 1959; Miura, 1972; Barron, 1983).

Bibliography
Barron, G.L. 1983. A new Amoebophilus (Zygomycetes) ectoparasitic on amoebae. Canadian Journal of Botany 61:3091-3094.

Dangeard, P.A. 1910. Étudies sur les développement des organisms inféreurs. I. Les Amibes. Le Botaniste 11:4-57.

Drechsler, C. 1935. Some conidial Phycomycetes destructive to terricolous amoebae. Mycologia 27:6-40.

Drechsler, C. 1959. Several Zoopagaceae subsisting on a nematode and some terricolous amoebae. Mycologia 51:787-823.

Korotneff, A. 1879-1880. Étude sur les Rhizopodes. Archives de zoologie expérimentale et générale 8:467-482.

Miura, K. 1978. Amoebophilus dangeardii, a new zygomycete parasitic on amoebae. Journal of Japanese Botany 53:184-192.

Updated Nov 05, 2007