Thecamoeba homeri

Thecamoeba homeri is a species of amoebae belonging to the phylum Amoebozoa. It is a terrestrial species found growing on cow dung in Mississippi. It is distinguished by the formation of a doughnut-shaped cell during its life cycle.

Etymology
The specific epithet, homeri, was chosen after the cartoon character Homer Simpson from The Simpsons, in reference to the doughnut pastries that this character loves. This is due to the doughnut shape that cells of Thecamoeba homeri occasionally adopt.

Description
Thecamoeba homeri is a species of amoeba belonging to the genus Thecamoeba, characterized by a central ovoid cell nucleus and prominent dorsal folds that run longitudinally across each cell. In particular, T. homeri is unique due to exhibiting 'doughnut behavior'. During its life cycle, the amoeba forms a transient doughnut-shaped or ring-like cell morphology, a phenomenon that has never been documented before.

Taxonomy
Thecamoeba homeri is a species described in 2024 by protistologists Tristan C. Henderson and Matthew W. Brown on a journal article published with other coauthors in the European Journal of Protistology. It was described from amoebae isolated from cow dung at Harned Hall, Mississippi, USA. These amoebae were cultured on agar and fed with E. coli. The researchers examined the fine morphology of these microbes. Through sequencing of the SSU rDNA gene, the microbes were assessed as members of the genus Thecamoeba but phylogenetically distinct from all other known species. The strain from which the species was described, named SK13-4H, was lost shortly after the isolation and molecular sequencing.