MTs are present in a vast range of taxonomic groups, ranging from prokaryotes (such as the cyanobacteria "Synechococcus sp."), protozoa (such as the ciliate "Tetrahymena" genera), plants (such as "Pisum sativum", "Triticum durum", "Zea mays", or "Quercus suber"), yeast (such as "Saccharomyces cerevisiae" or "Candida albicans"), invertebrates (such as the nematode "Caenorhabditis elegans", the insect "Drosophila melanogaster", the mollusc "Mytilus edulis", or the echinoderm "Strongylocentrotus purpuratus") and vertebrates (such as the chicken "Gallus gallus", or the mammalian "Homo sapiens" or "Mus musculus").