ArticleBMC biology2006
The complete plastid genome sequence of the parasitic green alga Helicosporidium sp. is highly reduced and structured.
Article in BMC biology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers.
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60 citing papers in PubMed, 128 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Reduced plastid genomes of colorless facultative pathogens Prototheca (Chlorophyta) are retained for membrane transport genes.BMC biology · 2024Article
- tRNA lysidinylation is essential for the minimal translation system found in the apicoplast ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
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- Organellar Evolution: A Path from Benefit to Dependence.Microorganisms · 2022Review
- An Insight into the Algal Evolution and Genomics.Biomolecules · 2020Review
- Genomic Insights into Plastid Evolution.Genome biology and evolution · 2020Review
- Highly Reduced Plastid Genomes of the Non-photosynthetic DictyochophyceansFrontiers in plant science · 2020Article
- Endosymbiotic Evolution of Algae, Secondary Heterotrophy and Parasitism.Biomolecules · 2019Review
- Genome sequencing of Prototheca zopfii genotypes 1 and 2 provides evidence of a severe reduction in organellar genomes.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- The Antarctic sea ice alga Chlamydomonas sp. ICE-L provides insights into adaptive patterns of chloroplast evolution.BMC plant biology · 2018Article
- Reductive evolution of chloroplasts in non-photosynthetic plants, algae and protists.Current genetics · 2018Review
- Evolution of heterotrophy in chrysophytes as reflected by comparative transcriptomics.FEMS microbiology ecology · 2018Article
- Multiple losses of photosynthesis and convergent reductive genome evolution in the colourless green algae Prototheca.Scientific reports · 2018Article
- The Repeat Sequences and Elevated Substitution Rates of the ChloroplastFrontiers in plant science · 2018Article
- Multiple origins of endosymbionts in Chlorellaceae with no reductive effects on the plastid or mitochondrial genomes.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- The Plastid Genome of Polytoma uvella Is the Largest Known among Colorless Algae and Plants and Reflects Contrasting Evolutionary Paths to Nonphotosynthetic Lifestyles.Plant physiology · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLoss of photosynthesis has occurred independently in several plant and algal lineages, and represents a major metabolic shift with potential consequences for the content and structure of plastid genomes. To investigate such changes, we sequenced the complete plastid genome of the parasitic, non-photosynthetic green alga, Helicosporidium.
resultsThe Helicosporidium plastid genome is among the smallest known (37.5 kb), and like other plastids from non-photosynthetic organisms it lacks all genes for proteins that function in photosynthesis. Its reduced size results from more than just loss of genes, however; it has little non-coding DNA, with only one intron and tiny intergenic spaces, and no inverted repeat (no duplicated genes at all). It encodes precisely the minimal complement of tRNAs needed to translate the universal genetic code, and has eliminated all redundant isoacceptors. The Helicosporidium plastid genome is also highly structured, with each half of the circular genome containing nearly all genes on one strand. Helicosporidium is known to be related to trebouxiophyte green algae, but the genome is structured and compacted in a manner more reminiscent of the non-photosynthetic plastids of apicomplexan parasites.
conclusionHelicosporidium contributes significantly to our understanding of the evolution of plastid DNA because it illustrates the highly ordered reduction that occurred following the loss of a major metabolic function. The convergence of plastid genome structure in Helicosporidium and the Apicomplexa raises the interesting possibility that there are common forces that shape plastid genomes, subsequent to the loss of photosynthesis in an organism.
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