Globulispora mitoportans n. g., n. sp., (Opisthosporidia: Microsporidia) a microsporidian parasite of daphnids with unusual spore organization and prominent mitosome-like vesicles

The microsporidian parasite Globulispora mitoportans, n. g., n. sp., infects the intestinal epithelium of two species of daphnids (Crustacea: Cladocera). Mature spores are thin-walled and possess a novel type of polaroplast with a conspicuous part consisting of globules that occupies a large part of the spore volume. Both developmental stages and the spores possess large, electron-lucent vesicles enveloped by a double membrane and filled with an internal web of filamentous material, corresponding structurally to microsporidian mitosomes. The SSU rRNA phylogeny places Globulispora into a specific Enterocytospora-like Glade, part of a large non-enterocytozoonidae Glade, grouping a heterogenous assemblage of microsporidia infecting almost exclusively insects and crustacea. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.