“Provora” is the new one supergroup of eukaryotic microorganisms (organisms with a well-differentiated nucleus, made up of one or more cells) discovered in some geographically distant marine habitats, precisely near the coral reefs of Curacao in the Caribbean sea, in the Black and Red Sea areas, in the waters of the Arctic Ocean and north-east of the Pacific Ocean.
Tikhonenkov, Keeling and other authors of this scientific investigation, taking some water samples, they found these very small strains equipped with two flagella, o code (i.e. long filamentous structures important for movement), located in separate pockets, which swim fast and prey on other organisms. In fact in the samples where they were present, all the others disappeared within two days. Especially these predators they eat differently: one group feeds by biting the prey with protrusions similar to teeth and the other swallows the whole prey by phagocytosis, i.e. through specific cells called phagocytes, respectively called Nibbleridia and Nebulidia, recognized as two divergent Provora lines.
Later these predators were fed on protozoa (unicellular eukaryotic organisms) and cultivated to study their DNA in order to understand their kinship with eukaryotes. Usually one gene is used for these studies (18s rRNA) to describe genetic differences, as in this case. "For example, humans differ from guinea pigs by themselves 6 nucleotides and instead, these new organisms differ approx 170-180 nucleotides compared to all other living things.” said Tikhonenkov.
The search for this gene has shown that these organisms are found not only in the oceans and seas, but also in brackish and fresh waters while they are absent in the soil. They are therefore globally distributed even though their density is very low and it is for this reason that they had not yet been detected so far.
These results highlight the rarity of this new supergroup that, although it is related to eukaryotes, it diversifies in many respects and allows you to add another branch to the tree of life. It does not mean that it is more or less important than other organisms and does not indicate a high level of diversity, but it will surely need to be examined in detail to better understand how Provora evolved and its role in evolution.
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