Paramicrosporidium saccamoebae strain:KSL3 Genome sequencing and assembly. Paramicrosporidium saccamoebae strain:KSL3

P. saccamoebae is a parasite of the nuclei of amoebae and is a member of the cryptic lineage of early diverging fungi called Cryptomycota. Based on microscopy, it was unclear if this fungus possessed a mitochondrion, or if there exists a flagellum at any stage in its life cycle. The only other described and sequenced, non-environmental samples of Cryptomycota, Rozella, possess a reduced mitochondrion and infect new hosts via motile zoospores (with a flagellum). However, mitochondria and flagella have been lost in the related Microsporidia, to which P. saccamoebae shares other morphological similarities. This important fungus provides a link in understanding the evolution of early diverging fungi and the parasitic Microsporidians.