Labyrinthulomycota

The Labyrinthulomycota are a phylum within the kingdom Chromista, comprising about 45 species in 10 genera. These organisms are found in both saltwater and freshwater environments, often associated with algae and other chromists. Their feeding stage involves an ectoplasmic network where spindle-shaped or spherical cells move by gliding over one another.1

The phylum is divided into two orders: Labyrinthulales and Thraustochytriales. Organisms in the Labyrinthulales order can be parasitic on marine algae, symbiotic with algae or vascular plants, parasitic on plants, or saprotrophic in soil. Their motile cells glide on an extracellular matrix secreted by an organelle called a sagenogenetosome. The genus Labyrinthula is a notable example within this order, known for being parasitic in aquatic plants. The order Labyrinthulales was historically considered an obscure order of Myxomycetes.123