Giardia
| Giardia | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Giardia trophozoite, SEM | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| (unranked): | Excavata |
| Phylum: | Sarcomastigophora |
| Class: | Zoomastigophora |
| Order: | Diplomonadida |
| Family: | Hexamitidae |
| Genus: |
Giardia Künstler, 1882 |
| species | |
|
Giardia agilis |
|
Giardia agilis
Giardia ardeae
Giardia lamblia
Giardia microti
Giardia muris
Giardia psittaci
Giardia (/dʒiːˈɑːrdiə/ or /ˈdʒɑːrdiə/) is a genus of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasites of the phylum Sarcomastigophora that colonise and reproduce in the small intestines of several vertebrates, causing giardiasis. Their life cycle alternates between an actively swimming trophozoite and an infective, resistant cyst. Giardia were first described by the Dutch microscopist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in 1681. The genus is named after French zoologist Alfred Mathieu Giard.
Like other diplomonads, Giardia have two nuclei, each with four associated flagella, and were thought to lack both and a Golgi apparatus. However they are now known to possess a complex endomembrane system as well as mitochondrial remnants, called mitosomes, through mitochondrial reduction. The mitosomes are not used in ATP synthesis the way mitochondria are, but are involved in the maturation of iron-sulfur proteins. The synapomorphies of genus Giardia include cells with duplicate organelles, absence of cytostomes, and ventral adhesive disc.
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