The gregarine Ancora sagittata uninfected (left) and infected (right) with Amphiamblys sp. [Photo credit: G. G. Paskerova (Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University)]

The genome sequence and gene models of Amphiamblys sp. WSBS2006 were not determined by the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), but were downloaded from Ensembl Fungi on April 11, 2020. Please note that this copy of the genome is not maintained by Ensembl and is therefore not automatically updated. The JGI Annotation Pipeline was used to add additional functional annotation to the author's chromosomes and proteins.

Amphiamblys sp. is a member of an unusual microsporidian group Metchnikovellidae. Metchnikovellids represent one of the early-diverging lineages of Microsporidia, and are known exclusively as parasites of gregarines. They are distinguished from other microsporidians by the lack of characteristic ultrastructural features, such as the coiled polar filament and the polaroplast, and also by the absence of merogonial stages in their life cycles.

Amphiamblys sp. WSBS2006 was obtained from the infected cells of Ancora sagittata, the gregarine host for the metchnikovellid, which were extracted from the intestinal tract of polychaetes Capitella capitata, inhabiting the sublittoral area of the White Sea. The DNA sample was subjected to whole genome amplification; the metchnikovellid sequences were extracted from the generated assembly by metagenomic binning approaches, yielding a genome with an estimated completeness of 90%.