Euglenozoan kleptoplasty illuminates the early evolution of photoendosymbiosis.

ABSTRACT: Kleptoplasts (kP) are distinct among photosynthetic organelles in eukaryotes (i.e., plastids) because they are routinely sequestered from prey algal cells and function only temporarily in the new host cell. Therefore, the hosts of kleptoplasts benefit from photosynthesis without constitutive photoendosymbiosis. Here, we report that the euglenozoan Rapaza viridis has only kleptoplasts derived from a specific strain of green alga, Tetraselmis sp., but no canonical plastids like those found in its sister group, the Euglenophyceae. R. viridis showed a dynamic change in the accumulation of cytosolic polysaccharides in response to light-dark cycles, and ¹³C isotopic labeling of ambient bicarbonate demonstrated that these polysaccharides originate in situ via photo

SUBMITTER: Karnkowska A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10041101 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature