New insights on the evolutionary relationships between the major lineages of Amoebozoa.

The supergroup Amoebozoa unites a wide diversity of amoeboid organisms and encompasses enigmatic lineages that have been recalcitrant to modern phylogenetics. Deep divergences, taxonomic placement of some key taxa and character evolution in the group largely remain poorly elucidated or controversial. We surveyed available Amoebozoa genomes and transcriptomes to mine conserved putative single copy genes, which were used to enrich gene sampling and generate the largest supermatrix in the group to date; encompassing 824 genes, including gene sequences not previously analyzed.

Three New Freshwater Cochliopodium Species (Himatismenida, Amoebozoa) from the Southeastern United States.

Cochliopodium is a lens-shaped genus of Amoebozoa characterized by a flexible layer of microscopic dorsal scales. Recent taxonomic and molecular studies reported cryptic diversity in this group and suggested that the often-used scale morphology is not a reliable character for species delineation in the genus. Here, we described three freshwater Cochliopodium spp.

Phylogenomics of Thecamoebida (Discosea, Amoebozoa) with the Description of Stratorugosa tubuloviscum gen. nov. sp. nov., a Freshwater Amoeba with a Perinuclear MTOC.

Thecamoebida Smirnov and Cavalier-Smith, 2011 (Discosea, Amoebozoa) has been molecularly understudied. The group until recently consisted of three genera containing species that live in terrestrial or aquatic environments. Here, we describe a fourth genus, Stratorugosa tubuloviscum gen.

A practical implementation of large transcriptomic data analysis to resolve cryptic species diversity problems in microbial eukaryotes.

Background: Transcriptome sequencing has become a method of choice for evolutionary studies in microbial eukaryotes due to low cost and minimal sample requirements. Transcriptome data has been extensively used in phylogenomic studies to infer ancient evolutionary histories. However, its utility in studying cryptic species diversity is not well explored.

Longamoebia is not monophyletic: Phylogenomic and cytoskeleton analyses provide novel and well-resolved relationships of amoebozoan subclades.

Longamoebia is one of the most morphologically diverse member of Amoebozoa. It includes the human pathogen Acanthamoeba, which causes minor skin and serious eye infections as well as fatal central nervous system complications. The taxonomy and phylogeny of Longamoebia is poorly understood partly due to the growing number of molecular studies that report unsuspected affiliations of lineages with extremely different morphotypes in the group.

National community pharmacy NHS influenza vaccination service in Wales: a primary care mixed methods study.

Background: Influenza is a significant cause of morbidity and excess mortality, yet vaccine coverage in the UK remains below target. Community pharmacies are increasingly being promoted as an alternative to vaccination by GPs.

Aim: To explore and verify the factors that influence the relative performance of pharmacies providing NHS influenza vaccinations.