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TSU biologist discovers new species of microscopic organism

   A Troy State University biologist has described a new species of protozoan, the fourth species of microscopic organism he has named. Dr. Stephen Landers, associate professor of biology, discovered the protozoan Pterospora floridiensis while working recently in St. Andrew Bay, Fla.
    He describes the single-celled organism in an article in the January 2001 issue of Systematic Parasitology. The new species will be stored in the protozoan collection at the Smithsonian Institution. Protozoa are single-celled organisms, many of which can be found within host animals, Landers said. He discovered the new protozoan -- whose name means "winged spore" -- living in the body cavity of the bamboo worm, an animal common to the coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere, he said.
    "I wasn't looking for a new species, but I realized I had found something new as soon as I saw it," he said. Although some protozoans are dangerous parasites, causing diseases like malaria, the new species probably is not harmful, Landers said. "This species lives in a host animal, but it's not a parasite and doesn't appear to do any harm," he said. "It's a symbiont, living in partnership with its host."
    The fact that the new species and the host bamboo worm live together has natural history implications, Landers said. "Bamboo worms are found worldwide," he said. "Did the host and the symbiont travel together as they populated new parts of the world? Did they evolve together?
    "This discovery won't answer those questions, but it helps us to understand the organisms," he said. "It's also important to document the diversity of life we have on this planet."
    The new protozoan is the third species in the genus Pterospora that Landers has named. He has also discovered and named a species of ciliate, another kind of protozoan. "It's fun (to find new species)," Landers said. "It makes you feel like you've made a contribution to science that you can be proud of, even if it's a small one."
    A member of TSU's biology faculty since 1993, Landers is a native of Norfolk, Neb. He lives in Troy with his wife, Joyce, and sons Ryan and Steve.