Trichonympha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iMixotricha paradoxa
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Protista Phylum: Metamonada Class: Parabasalia Order: Trichomonadida Family: Trichonymphidae Genus: Trichonympha

Trichonympha is a genus of metamonad protists (relatives of the infamous Giardia parasites) that live in the intestines of many, if not most, termite species. They are important symbiotes, in that they break down the cellulose in the wood and plant fibers their hosts eat.

Trichonympha metamonads resemble teardrops or pears that are wearing wigs. They are extremely motile, and feed by engulfing wood and plant fibers through phagocytosis, which always occurs at the broad ends of their bodies.

As beguiling as a relationship between a wood-eating insect and its wood-digesting symbiote may seem, further investigations of Trichonympha reveals even more mind-boggling situations.

By itself, Trichonympha lacks both the ability to produce cellulase and functioning flagella. The beast requires bacterial endosymbiotes to produce the cellulase to digest its food, and has spirochete ectosymbiotes embedded in its cell membrane (these symbiotes give their host its characteristic "wiggy" appearance) to grant it motility. The relationship with the spirochetes is particularly intriguing, as researchers are unsure whether the spirochetes move their host around, in the manner a group of excited dogs drag around their dog-walker, or if Trichonympha "commands" them to move it around, much like a charioteer controls the horses of his chariot.