The Choanoflagellates Hardcover 1

Barry S. C. Leadbeater

Choanoflagellates have three distinctive claims to fame: they are the closest, living, unicellular relatives of animals; they are a major component of aquatic microbial foodwebs; and one group is remarkable for its siliceous basket-like coverings. This landmark book offers a unique synthesis of over forty years of choanoflagellates research. Key areas are covered, from the phylogenetic evidence supporting the sister-group relationship between choanoflagellates and Metazoa, to choanoflagellate distribution and diversity in marine and freshwater environments. The structure and assembly of choanoflagellate loricae is also presented together with a full discussion of a novel example of 'regulatory evolution', suggesting that the switch from nudiform to tectiform cell division and lorica production was achieved by a sudden reorganisation of existing structures and mechanisms. Providing an authoritative summary of what is currently known about choanoflagellates, this title will serve as a foundation upon which future research and discussion can take place.

9780521884440

English

Cambridge University Press

2/28/2015

350

Barry S. C. Leadbeater is a retired Reader in Protistology at the University of Birmingham. His academic research interests include: ultrastructure, physiology and ecology of algae and protozoa, whereas his biotechnological research interests include: algae and water quality; physiology of algal/protistan biofilms and biological aspects of water treatment processes. He has authored and co-authored over 80 papers, edited five books and, presently, he is a monitoring editor of the journal Protist.

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Barry Leadbeater has given us the book [the choanoflagellates] deserve and every protistologist should have this in their personal library.' John R. Dolan, Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology. 'This book is a beautiful, current compendium on choanoflagellates.' Jack Cohen, The Biologist. 'The Choanoflagellates is an excellent and authoritative book that covers all aspects of this group of protozoans and it will remain so for quite some time. It can be warmly recommended to protozoologists and to anyone interested in the origin of metazoans and in the evolution of multicellularity.' Tom Fenchel, The Quarterly Review of Biology