Gyrista
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| Gyrista | |
|---|---|
| Gyristan representatives (clockwise from top-left): water mould, brown algae, diatoms, Develorapax. | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Sar |
| Clade: | Stramenopiles |
| Clade: | Gyrista Cavalier-Smith 1998[1] |
| Subgroups[2][3] | |
| |
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Gyrista is a clade of stramenopile protists containing three diverse groups: the mostly photosynthetic Ochrophyta, the parasitic Pseudofungi, and the recently described group of nanoflagellates known as Bigyromonada.[2] Members of this clade are characterized by the presence of a helix or a double helix/ring system in the ciliary transition region.[1]
Taxonomic history
Gyrista was first described in 1998 by protistologist Thomas Cavalier-Smith in his work A revised six-kingdom system of life, originally as a superphylum containing two phyla: Ochrophyta, the heterokont algae; and Bigyra, which then contained the pseudofungi and bigyromonads together with the opalines.[1] Later, the name Bigyra was modified to contain opalines, bicosoecids and labyrinthulomycetes, while the Ochrophyta, Pseudofungi and Bigyromonada remained as groups within Gyrista.[2]
Molecular phylogenetics
Gyrista was seen in 2017 as the sister group to phylum Bigyra, which contains the Sagenista and Opalozoa. Together, Gyrista and Bigyra form the clade Stramenopiles or Heterokonta.[2][4]
A phylogenetic analysis in a 2022 preprint recovered a monophyletic Bigyromonada sister to Pseudofungi. The "Bigyra" is paraphyletic:[5]
