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Chaos(genus)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Chaosisagenusofamoebae,inthefamilyAmoebidae.The
largestandbestknownspecies,thesocalled"giantamoeba"
Chaoscarolinense,canreachlengthsof5mm,althoughmost
specimensfallbetween1and3mm.[2][3][4]
MembersofthegenuscloselyresembleAmoebaandsharethe
samegeneralmorphology,producingnumerouscylindrical
pseudopods,eachofwhichisroundedatthetip.[5]However,
whileAmoebahaveasinglenucleus,Chaoscanhaveasmany
asathousand.Becauseofthisattribute,C.carolinensiswas
onceplacedinthegenusPelomyxaalongwiththeothergiant
multinucleateamoeba,Pelomyxapalustris.Recently,molecular
phylogeneticstudiesofthisspecieshaveconfirmedtheviewof
someearlierresearchers[6]thatitismorecloselyrelatedto
AmoebathantoPelomyxa.[7]Thespeciesisnowplacedinthe
independentgenusChaos,asistergrouptoAmoeba.
Chaosspeciesare
versatileheterotrophs,
abletofeedonbacteria,
algae,otherprotists,and
evensmallmulticellular
invertebrates.[3]Likeall
Amoebozoa,theytake
infoodbyphagocytosis,
encirclingfoodparticles
withitspseudopodia,
thenenclosingthem
withinafoodball,or
vacuole,wheretheyare
Chaoscarolinensis(=Pelomyxa
brokendownby
carolinensis),asdrawnbyH.V.
enzymes.Thecelldoes
Wilson,1900
nothaveamouthor
cytostome,noristhere
anyfixedsiteonthecell
membraneatwhichphagocytosisnormallyoccurs.[8]

Amoebidae

Chaoscarolinensis

Scientificclassification
Domain:

Eukarya

Phylum:

Amoebozoa

Class:

Tubulinea

Order:

Tubulinida

Family:

Amoebidae

Genus:

Chaos
Linnaeus,1767[1]

Species
Chaoscarolinense
Chaosglabrum
Chaosillinoisense
Chaosnobile
Chaoszoochlorellae

Thecell'smembrane,orplasmalemma,islooseandextremelyplastic,allowingtheorganismtochange
shapefromonemomenttothenext.Thecytoplasmwithinthemembraneisconventionallydescribedas
havingtwoparts:theinternalfluid,orendoplasm,whichcontainsloosegranulesandfoodvacuoles,aswell
asorganellessuchasnucleiandmitochondriaandamoreviscousectoplasmaroundtheperimeterofthe
cell,whichisrelativelyclearandcontainsnoconspicuousgranules.Likeotherloboseamoebae,Chaos
movebyextendingpseudopodia.Asanewpseudopodisextended,avariablezoneofectoplasmformsat
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theleadingedgeandafountainingstreamofendoplasmcirculateswithin.Theeffortofdescribingthese
motions,andexplaininghowtheyresultinthecell'sforwardmovement,hasgeneratedalargebodyof
scientificliterature.[9]

Contents
1
2
3
4

Earlyhistoryandnamingcontroversy
Recentphylogeny
References
Externallinks

Earlyhistoryandnamingcontroversy

AmoebasandVolvoxfromRselvon
Rosenhof,1755

ThegenusChaoshashadalongandoftenconfusinghistory.In
1755,RselvonRosenhofsawanddepictedanamoeboidhe
named"derkleineProteus"("thelittleProteus").[10]Three
yearslater,LinnaeusgaveRsel'screaturethenameVolvox
chaos.However,becausethenameVolvoxhadalreadybeen
appliedtoagenusofflagellatealgae,helaterchangeditto
Chaoschaos.Insubsequentdecades,asnewnamesandspecies
proliferated,accountsofChaos,underavarietyofsynonyms,
becamesothoroughlyentangledwithdescriptionsofsimilar
organisms,thatitisvirtuallyimpossibletodifferentiateone
historicamoeboidfromanother.In1879,JosephLeidy
suggestedcollapsingallthe"common"large,freshwater
amoebaeintoonespecies,whichheproposedtocallAmoeba
proteus.Adozenspecies,includingseveralthathadbeen
identifiedasbelongingtoChaos,weretoberegardedas
synonymsofAmoebaproteus.However,inthedescriptionhe
givesofthisorganism,itisclearlydefinedasauninucleate
amoeba,unlikethemodernChaos.[11]

In1900,thebiologistH.V.Wilson,attheUniversityofNorth
Carolina,discoveredandisolatedagiantamoebathat
resembledAmoebaproteusbuthadcellularnucleinumberinginthehundreds.Sincethereexistedalreadya
genusofgiantmultinucleateamoebae,Pelomyxa,Wilsonplacedhisorganisminthattaxon,namingit
Pelomyxacarolinensis.[2]Thisamoebawaseasilycultivatedandbecameawidelydistributedandstudied
laboratoryorganism.
In1926,AsaA.SchaefferarguedthatPelomyxacarolinensiswas,infact,identicaltotheamoebathathad
beenseenbyRselin1755,the"littleProteus"whichLinnaeushadnamedChaoschaos.Therefore,he
urgedthat,inkeepingwiththeprincipleofprioritygoverningbiologicalnomenclature,thenameofthe
organismshouldbeChaoschaos.Severalinvestigatorsarguedvigorouslyagainstthevalidityofthat
name,[12][13]butothersadoptedit.AthirdfactionacceptedthevalidityofthegenusChaosforWilson's
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amoeba,butretainedthesecondhalf
ofthebinomial,referringtothe
organismasChaoscarolinensis.[14]
Bytheearly1970s,allthreenames
wereinuseconcurrently,byvarious
investigators.However,studiesof
thefinestructureandphysiologyof
theamoebamadeitincreasingly
clearthattherewereprofound
differencesbetweenitandtheother
AmoebasfromC.G.Ehrenberg,1830
Pelomyxa(includingthecomplete
absence,intruePelomyxa,of
mitochondria).[15]Sincethen,a
nomenclaturalconsensushasemerged,andtodaytheorganismisgenerally
knownasChaoscarolinensis,asfirstproposedbyRobertL.KingandTheodore
L.Jahnin1948.[14]

A.proteus(=C.chaos),
fromJosephLeidy,
1879

Recentphylogeny
Untilquiterecently,thegenusChaoswasincluded,alongwithallotherprotiststhatextendlobose
pseudopodsormoveaboutbyprotoplasmicflow,inthephylumSarcodina.[16]Molecularphylogeniesbased
ontheexaminationofribosomalDNA,haveshownthatSarcodinaisapolyphyleticgrouping:thatsome
amoeboidssharedamorerecentcommonancestorwithmembersofotherphylathanwithotherSarcodina.
Consequently,theamoeboidsofSarcodinahavebeendistributedamongtwonewlycreatedsupergroups,
RhizariaandAmoebozoa.Chaosanditscloserelative,Amoeba,arenowplacedinthelatter,withinthe
orderTubulinida:nakedamoebas(lackingatest,orshell),eithermonopodialorpossessingsomewhat
cylindricalpseudopods,withnonadhesiveuroid(aregionattheposteriorofthecellwhichhasacrumpled
appearance).[1]
WhilethemonophylyofAmoebozoahasyettobeestablished,currentinformationconfirmsthestatusof
ChaosandAmoebaascloselyrelatedtaxawithinthegroup.However,thesameresearchraisesquestions
aboutthemonophylyofthegenusChaos,sinceChaosnobilemaybebasaltoagroupcontainingChaos
carolinensisandatleasttwospeciesofAmoeba[16],asillustratedbelow,followingPawlowskiandBurki
(2009):
Amoebaleningradensis
Amoebaproteus

Chaoscarolinensis

Chaosnobile

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References
1.Adl,SinaM.etal.(October2005)."TheNewHigherLevelClassificationofEukaryoteswithEmphasisonthe
TaxonomyofProtists".JournalofEukaryoticMicrobiology52(5):399451.doi:10.1111/j.1550
7408.2005.00053.x.PMID16248873.
2.Wilson,H.V.(July1900)."NotesonaSpeciesofPelomyxa".TheAmericanNaturalist34(403):53550.
doi:10.1086/277702.JSTOR2453844.
3.Kudo,Richard(1954).Protozoology.4thEd.(PDF).Springfield,Illinois:CharlesC.Thomas.p.442.
4.Deng,Yuruetal.(2002)."FastinginducescyanideresistantrespirationandoxidativestressintheamoebaChaos
carolinensis:implicationsforthecubicstructuraltransitioninmitochondrialmembranes".Protoplasma219(3
4):16067.doi:10.1007/s007090200017.
5.Patterson,David(1996).FreeLivingFreshwaterProtozoa:AColourGuide.London:Manson.p.99.ISBN1
874545405.
6.Short,RobertB.(1946)."ObservationsontheGiantAmoeba,AmoebaCarolinensis(Wilson,1900)".The
BiologicalBulletin90(1):818.doi:10.2307/1538058.JSTOR1538058.
7.Bolivar,Ignacioetal.(2001)."SSUrRNAbasedPhylogeneticPositionoftheGeneraAmoebaandChaos
(Lobosea,Gymnamoebia):TheOriginofGymnamoebaeRevisited".MolecularBiologyandEvolution18(12):
23062314.doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003777.PMID11719580.
8.Thorp,JamesH.(2001).EcologyandClassificationofNorthAmericanFreshwaterinvertebrates.SanDiego:
Academic.p.71.ISBN0126906475.
9.Allen,RDAllen,RS(1978)."CytoplasmicStreaminginAmoeboidMovement".AnnualReviewofBiophysics
andBioengineering7:469495.doi:10.1146/annurev.bb.07.060178.002345.PMID352246.
10.RselvonRosenhof,A.J.1755.DermonatlichherausgegebenenInsectenBelustigungerster[bisvierter]
Theil...J.J.Fleischmann:Nrnberg.Vol.3,Tab.101,[1](http://www.erara.ch/zut/wihibe/content/pageview/4673
200),p.621,[2](https://books.google.com.br/books?id=q9JCAQAAMAAJ&hl=&pg=PA621&redir_esc=y#v=on
epage&q&f=false),p.622,[3](http://www.erara.ch/zut/wihibe/content/pageview/4673207).
11.Leidy,Joseph(1879).FreshwaterRhizopodsofNorthAmerica(PDF).Washington:GovernmentPrintingOffice.
pp.3035.
12.Wilber,CG(1947)."ConcerningtheCorrectNameoftheRhizopod,Pelomyxacarolinensis".Transactionsofthe
AmericanMicroscopicalSociety66(1):99101.doi:10.2307/3223328.JSTOR3223328.
13.Kudo,Richard(1959)."PelomyxaandRelatedOrganisms".AnnalsoftheNewYorkAcademyofSciences78(2):
474486.doi:10.1111/j.17496632.1959.tb56118.x.
14.King,RobertL.Jahn,TheodoreL.(19March1948)."ConcerningtheGeneraofAmebas".Science107(2777):
2934.doi:10.1126/science.107.2777.293.JSTOR1675718.
15.ChapmanAndresen,Cicely(1971)."BiologyoftheLargeAmoebae".AnnualReviewofMicrobiology25:2748.
doi:10.1146/annurev.mi.25.100171.000331.PMID5005027.
16.Pawlowski,J.Burki,F.(JanFeb2009)."Untanglingthephylogenyofamoeboidprotists".Journalof
EukaryoticMicrobiology56(1):1626.doi:10.1111/j.15507408.2008.00379.x.PMID19335771.

Externallinks
AmoebaeontheWeb(http://amoeba.ifmo.ru/)
TheAmoebae(http://www.bms.ed.ac.uk/research/others/smaciver/amoebae.htm)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chaos_(genus)&oldid=716994138"
Categories: Amoebozoa
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