[2] Being an early diverging fungus, S. punctatus retains ancestral cellular features that are also found in animals and amoebae.

[3] Its pathogenic relatives, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans, infect amphibians and cause global biodiversity loss.

[4] The pure culture of S. punctatus was first obtained by Koch (named Phlyctochytrium punctatum).

[1] Genetic transformation of S. punctatus zoospores by plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens EHA105 strain is successfully established.

[3] A high-efficiency electroporation protocol for S.punctatus and two related chytrids species B. dendrobatidis and B. salamandrivorans has also been established.

The zoospores can swim with a motile cilium (20–24 mm) or crawl on surfaces by actin-filled pseudopods.

Fifth, vesicular retraction is the creation of an axoneme loop bulge within the ciliary membrane before internalization.

[10][11] S. punctatus mitochondrial genome encodes eight tRNAs that recognize lysine, aspartic acid, tryptophan, methionine, tyrosine, glutamine, proline, and leucine codons.

Ethylene and cytokinin receptor homologs are also found in several flagellated and unflagellated fungal genera, including Spizellomyces.

Ethylene and cytokinin receptors in early diversifying fungus may play important roles in colonizing land.

[18] Both types are seven-transmembrane receptors and bind covalently retinal as chromophore, which turns them into photoreceptors sensing light.

[19] In other fungi such as Blastocladiella emersonii, a flagellated early-diverging fungus, type 1 opsins are used for phototaxis.

It shares with other G-protein-coupled receptors a number of conserved motifs and amino acids including the lysine corresponding to residue 296 in cattle rhodopsin,[22] which is important for retinal binding and light sensing.

Fanzor is a protein encoded by eukaryotic transposons and is thought to have originated from TnpB, an effector of the prokaryotic RNA-guided system known as OMEGA.

TnpB is also considered the putative ancestor of Cas12, an RNA-guided endonuclease utilized in the CRISPR-Cas system.

This suggests a connection between Fz, TnpB, and Cas12, despite their different roles and context in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.