Malawimonas
Malawimonas is genus of unicellular, heterotrophic flagellates with uncertain phylogenetic affinities. They have variably being assigned to Excavata and Loukozoa.[2][3] Recent studies suggest they may be closely related to the Podiata.[4][5]
In 1993, Charles J O’ Kelly studied the jakobid groups flagellates and implications for the early diversification of eukaryotes and recognized that Jakoba, Reclimonas, and Histonia or often refer as “core jakobids” were morphologically somewhat similar. Interestingly, they included an unnamed and undescribed free-swimming, flagellate, and also groove- bearing cell.[6][7]
During the early study, these cells were thought to be a member from Jakoba due to the external morphology features that resembles Jakoba libera in terms of lack of cell covering, sessile trophic stages, swimming in a similar manner and sharing the tendency for the anterior flagellum to form a “crook. However, later discovery found that this species seems to not fit and can not be assigned to the genus Jakoba, nor to any other genus of Jakobids, because of their discoidal mitochondrial cristae, which is different from Jakoba that have irregularly flattened, and the other Jakobids member have tubular mitochondrial cristae.[8]
This undescribed organism was later described formally as Malawimonas jakobiformis and placed in its own new family Malawimonadidae, a bacterivorous heterotrophic isolated from the Malawi shore of Lake Nyasa (eastern Africa).[8]
Only more than a decade later, a related organism has been studied under several studies that revolved around the phylogenetic positions of the Jakobids and Cercozoans group under the names Malawimonas californiana, but there are no formal descriptions included.[9][10][11]
Malawimonas share some common features with the jakobids and other Excavata group members by having a conspicuous feeding grove on the ventral side and two flagellates. The overall cytoskeleton of Malawimonas resembles Carpediemonas, typical Excavata belonging to the anaerobic Metamonada clade and closely related to Diplomonads and Retormonads.[3][11]
