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The highly reduced genome of an enslaved algal nucleus
Open accessAbstract
Chromophyte algae differ fundamentally from plants in possessing chloroplasts that contain chlorophyll c and that have a more complex bounding-membrane topology. Although chromophytes are known to be evolutionary chimaeras of a red alga and a non-photosynthetic host, which gave rise to their exceptional membrane complexity, their cell biology is poorly understood. Cryptomonads are the only chromophytes that still retain the enslaved red algal nucleus as a minute nucleomorph. Here we report complete sequences for all three nucleomorph chromosomes from the cryptomonad Guillardia theta. This tiny 551-kilobase eukaryotic genome is the most gene-dense known, with only 17 diminutive spliceosomal introns and 44 overlapping genes. Marked evolutionary compaction hundreds of millions of years ago eliminated nearly all the nucleomorph genes for metabolic functions, but left 30 for chloroplast-located proteins. To allow expression of these proteins, nucleomorphs retain hundreds of genetic-housekeeping genes. Nucleomorph DNA replication and periplastid protein synthesis require the import of many nuclear gene products across endoplasmic reticulum and periplastid membranes. The chromosomes have centromeres, but possibly only one loop domain, offering a means for studying eukaryotic chromosome replication, segregation and evolution.
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“T1–T8 all indicate independent secondary symbioses (plastid origins from eukaryotic symbionts; refs. 2, 3, and 8) each for Euglena, and importantly for Guillardia and Odontella.”
From Evolutionary analysis of Arabidopsis , cyanobacterial, and chloroplast genomes reveals plastid phylogeny and thousands of cyanobacterial genes in the nucleus (2002) · cites this paper as [8]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Douglas, S., Zauner, S., Fraunholz, M., Beaton, M., Penny, S., Deng, L.-T., Wu, X., Reith, M., Cavalier-Smith, T., & Maier, U.-G.
- Affiliations
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CA)
- Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2001-04-26
- Volume
- 410
- Issue
- 6832
- Pages
- 1091-1096
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W1582655487
- Cited by
- 454
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 21
- FWCI
- 12.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Wellcome Trust
- European Commission
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics › Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Chromosomal and Genetic Variations
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Keywords
- nucleomorph, cryptophytes, Guillardia theta, genome reduction, spliceosomal introns, chloroplast proteins, centromere, chromosome replication, chromosome segregation, endoplasmic reticulum
- MeSH terms
- Cyanobacteria, Rhodophyta, Base Sequence, Cell Nucleus, Chloroplasts, Chromosome Mapping, Molecular Sequence Data, Symbiosis, Genome, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Eukaryota
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