Ancestral chloroplast genome in Mesostigma viride reveals an early branch of green plant evolution
Open accessAbstract
Sequence comparisons suggest that all living green plants belong to one of two major phyla: Streptophyta (land plants and their closest green algal relatives, the charophytes); and Chlorophyta (the rest of green algae). Because no green algae are known that pre-date the Streptophyta/Chlorophyta split, and also because the earliest diverging green algae show considerable morphological variation, the nature of the unicellular flagellate ancestor of the two green plant phyla is unknown. Here we report that the flagellate Mesostigma viride belongs to the earliest diverging green plant lineage discovered to date. We have sequenced the entire chloroplast DNA (118,360 base pairs) of this green alga and have conducted phylogenetic analyses of sequences derived from this genome. Mesostigma represents a lineage that emerged before the divergence of the Streptophyta and Chlorophyta, a position that is supported by several features of its chloroplast DNA. The structure and gene organization of this genome indicate that chloroplast DNA architecture has been extremely well conserved in the line leading to land plants.
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The prasinophyte Mesostigma branched basal to land plants but above Chlorella and Nephroselmis in all analyses, in contrast to the position inferred previously by using 53 genes and fewer outgroups, but compatible with other recent findings.
“The prasinophyte Mesostigma branched basal to land plants but above Chlorella and Nephroselmis in all analyses, in contrast to the position inferred previously by using 53 genes and fewer outgroups (32), but compatible with other recent findings (56).”
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References 31 · Cited by 277
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- [17]Lockhart, P. J., Larkum, A. W. D., Steel, M. A., Waddell, P. J. & Penny, D. Evolution of chlorophyll and bacteriochlorophyll: The problem of invariant sites in sequence analysis. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 93, 1930-1934 (1996).
- [20]Turmel, M., Otis, C. & Lemieux, C. The complete chloroplast DNA sequence of the green alga Nephroselmis olivacea : insights into the architecture of ancestral chloroplast genomes. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 96, 10248-10253 (1999).
- [30]Wakasugi, T. et al . Complete nucleotide sequence of the chloroplast genome from the green alga Chlorella vulgaris : the existence of genes possibly involved in chloroplast division. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 94, 5967-5972 (1997).
- Authors
- Lemieux, C., Otis, C., & Turmel, M.
- Affiliations
- Université Laval (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Lemieux, Claude
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2000-02
- Volume
- 403
- Issue
- 6770
- Pages
- 649-652
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W1486346849
- Cited by
- 277
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 8.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- European Commission
- Fourth Framework Programme
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Plant Diversity and Evolution
- Keywords
- chloroplast genome, Streptophyta, Chlorophyta, green algae, phylogenetic relationships, gene structure, land plant origin
- MeSH terms
- Chlorophyta, Chloroplasts, DNA, Flagella, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Plants, Genome, Evolution, Molecular
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