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After the primary endosymbiosis: an update on the chromalveolate hypothesis and the origins of algae with Chl c

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Abstract

The chromalveolate hypothesis proposed by Cavalier-Smith (J Euk Microbiol 46:347–366, 1999) suggested that all the algae with chlorophyll c (heterokonts, haptophytes, cryptophytes, and dinoflagellates), as well as the ciliates, apicomplexans, oomycetes, and other non-photosynthetic relatives, shared a common ancestor that acquired a chloroplast by secondary endosymbiosis of a red alga. Much of the evidence from plastid and nuclear genomes supports a red algal origin for plastids of the photosynthetic lineages, but the number of secondary endosymbioses and the number of plastid losses have not been resolved. The issue is complicated by the fact that nuclear genomes are mosaics of genes acquired over a very long time period, not only by vertical descent but also by endosymbiotic and horizontal gene transfer. Phylogenomic analysis of the available whole-genome data has suggested major alterations to our view of eukaryotic evolution, and given rise to alternative models. The next few years may see even more changes once a more representative collection of sequenced genomes becomes available.

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Abbreviations

EGT:

Endosymbiotic gene transfer

EST:

Expressed sequence tag (cDNA sequence)

HGT:

Lateral or horizontal gene transfer

LHC:

Light-harvesting complex

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Acknowledgments

I thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for continuing support of my research, and for its wisdom in funding research on organelle genomes and protist gene expression.

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  1. Botany Department, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Beverley R. Green

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Correspondence to Beverley R. Green.

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Dedicated to Sally (Sarah P.) Gibbs in recognition of the enormous impact her insight into the role of secondary endosymbiosis in algal evolution has had on our current picture of the Tree of Life. For a first-hand description of the intellectual process and rigorous observations that led her to this insight, see Gibbs (2006).

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Green, B.R. After the primary endosymbiosis: an update on the chromalveolate hypothesis and the origins of algae with Chl c . Photosynth Res 107, 103–115 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-010-9584-2

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