Superorganisms of the Protist Kingdom: A New Level of Biological Organization

Abstract

AbstractThe concept of superorganism has a mixed reputation in biology—for some it is a convenient way of discussing supra-organismal levels of organization, and for others, little more than a poetic metaphor. Here, I show that a considerable step forward in the understanding of superorganisms results from a thorough review of the supra-organismal levels of organization now known to exist among the “unicellular” protists. Limiting the discussion to protists has enormous advantages: their bodies are very well studied and relatively simple (as compared to humans or termites, two standard examples in most discussions about superorganisms), and they exhibit an enormous diversity of anatomies and lifestyles. This allows for unprecedented resolution in describing forms of supra-organismal organization. Here, four criteria are used to differentiate loose, incidental associations of hosts with their microbiota from “actual” superorganisms: (1) obligatory character, (2) specific spatial localization of microbiota, (3) presence of attachment structures and (4) signs of co-evolution in phylogenetic analyses. Three groups—that have never before been described in the philosophical literature—merit special attention: Symbiontida (also called Postgaardea), Oxymonadida and Parabasalia. Specifically, it is argued that in certain cases—for Bihospites bacati and Calkinsia aureus (symbiontids), Streblomastix strix (an oxymonad), Joenia annectens and Mixotricha paradoxa (parabasalids) and Kentrophoros (a ciliate)—it is fully appropriate to describe the whole protist-microbiota assocation as a single organism (“superorganism”) and its elements as “tissues” or, arguably, even “organs”. To account for this level of biological complexity, I propose the term “structured superorganism”.