The rise and fall of Picobiliphytes: how assumed autotrophs turned out to be heterotrophs.

ABSTRACT: Algae are significant members of Earth's biodiversity. Having been studied for a long time, the discovery of new algal phyla is extremely unusual. Recently, the enigmatic "Picobiliphyta," a group of uncultured eukaryotes unveiled using molecular tools, were claimed to represent an unrecognized early branching algal lineage with a nucleomorph (remnant nucleus of a secondary algal endosymbiont) in their plastids. However, subsequent studies rejected the presence of a nucleomorph, and single-cell genomic studies failed to detect any plastid-related genes, ruling out the possibility of plastid occurrence. The isolation of the first "picobiliphyte," Picomonas judraskeda, a tiny organism that feeds on very small (<150 nm) organic particles, came as final proof of their non-photosynthetic lifesty

SUBMITTER: Moreira D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4133654 | biostudies-literature | 2014 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature