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Lindsey CR, Knoll AH, Herron MD, Rosenzweig F. Fossil-calibrated molecular clock data enable reconstruction of steps leading to differentiated multicellularity and anisogamy in the Volvocine algae. BMC Biol 2024; 22:79. [PMID: 38600528 PMCID: PMC11007952 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-024-01878-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Throughout its nearly four-billion-year history, life has undergone evolutionary transitions in which simpler subunits have become integrated to form a more complex whole. Many of these transitions opened the door to innovations that resulted in increased biodiversity and/or organismal efficiency. The evolution of multicellularity from unicellular forms represents one such transition, one that paved the way for cellular differentiation, including differentiation of male and female gametes. A useful model for studying the evolution of multicellularity and cellular differentiation is the volvocine algae, a clade of freshwater green algae whose members range from unicellular to colonial, from undifferentiated to completely differentiated, and whose gamete types can be isogamous, anisogamous, or oogamous. To better understand how multicellularity, differentiation, and gametes evolved in this group, we used comparative genomics and fossil data to establish a geologically calibrated roadmap of when these innovations occurred. RESULTS Our ancestral-state reconstructions, show that multicellularity arose independently twice in the volvocine algae. Our chronograms indicate multicellularity evolved during the Carboniferous-Triassic periods in Goniaceae + Volvocaceae, and possibly as early as the Cretaceous in Tetrabaenaceae. Using divergence time estimates we inferred when, and in what order, specific developmental changes occurred that led to differentiated multicellularity and oogamy. We find that in the volvocine algae the temporal sequence of developmental changes leading to differentiated multicellularity is much as proposed by David Kirk, and that multicellularity is correlated with the acquisition of anisogamy and oogamy. Lastly, morphological, molecular, and divergence time data suggest the possibility of cryptic species in Tetrabaenaceae. CONCLUSIONS Large molecular datasets and robust phylogenetic methods are bringing the evolutionary history of the volvocine algae more sharply into focus. Mounting evidence suggests that extant species in this group are the result of two independent origins of multicellularity and multiple independent origins of cell differentiation. Also, the origin of the Tetrabaenaceae-Goniaceae-Volvocaceae clade may be much older than previously thought. Finally, the possibility of cryptic species in the Tetrabaenaceae provides an exciting opportunity to study the recent divergence of lineages adapted to live in very different thermal environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Ross Lindsey
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Andrew H Knoll
- Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Matthew D Herron
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Frank Rosenzweig
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
- Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
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2
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Kato K, Hamaguchi T, Kumazawa M, Nakajima Y, Ifuku K, Hirooka S, Hirose Y, Miyagishima SY, Suzuki T, Kawakami K, Dohmae N, Yonekura K, Shen JR, Nagao R. The structure of PSI-LHCI from Cyanidium caldarium provides evolutionary insights into conservation and diversity of red-lineage LHCs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2319658121. [PMID: 38442179 PMCID: PMC10945839 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2319658121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) are diversified among photosynthetic organisms, and the structure of the photosystem I-LHC (PSI-LHCI) supercomplex has been shown to be variable depending on the species of organisms. However, the structural and evolutionary correlations of red-lineage LHCs are unknown. Here, we determined a 1.92-Å resolution cryoelectron microscopic structure of a PSI-LHCI supercomplex isolated from the red alga Cyanidium caldarium RK-1 (NIES-2137), which is an important taxon in the Cyanidiophyceae. We subsequently investigated the correlations of PSI-LHCIs from different organisms through structural comparisons and phylogenetic analysis. The PSI-LHCI structure obtained shows five LHCI subunits surrounding a PSI-monomer core. The five LHCIs are composed of two Lhcr1s, two Lhcr2s, and one Lhcr3. Phylogenetic analysis of LHCs bound to PSI in the red-lineage algae showed clear orthology of LHCs between C. caldarium and Cyanidioschyzon merolae, whereas no orthologous relationships were found between C. caldarium Lhcr1-3 and LHCs in other red-lineage PSI-LHCI structures. These findings provide evolutionary insights into conservation and diversity of red-lineage LHCs associated with PSI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Koji Kato
- Division of Photosynthesis and Structural Biology, Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, and Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama700-8530, Japan
| | - Tasuku Hamaguchi
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Miyagi980-8577, Japan
- Biostructural Mechanism Laboratory, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Hyogo679-5148, Japan
| | - Minoru Kumazawa
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Yoshiki Nakajima
- Division of Photosynthesis and Structural Biology, Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, and Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama700-8530, Japan
| | - Kentaro Ifuku
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto606-8502, Japan
| | - Shunsuke Hirooka
- Department of Gene Function and Phenomics, National Institute of Genetics, Shizuoka411-8540, Japan
| | - Yuu Hirose
- Department of Applied Chemistry and Life Science, Toyohashi University of Technology, Aichi441-8580, Japan
| | - Shin-ya Miyagishima
- Department of Gene Function and Phenomics, National Institute of Genetics, Shizuoka411-8540, Japan
- Department of Genetics, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI), Shizuoka411-8540, Japan
| | - Takehiro Suzuki
- Biomolecular Characterization Unit, Technology Platform Division, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama351-0198, Japan
| | - Keisuke Kawakami
- Biostructural Mechanism Laboratory, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Hyogo679-5148, Japan
| | - Naoshi Dohmae
- Biomolecular Characterization Unit, Technology Platform Division, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science, Saitama351-0198, Japan
| | - Koji Yonekura
- Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials, Tohoku University, Miyagi980-8577, Japan
- Biostructural Mechanism Laboratory, RIKEN SPring-8 Center, Hyogo679-5148, Japan
| | - Jian-Ren Shen
- Division of Photosynthesis and Structural Biology, Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science, and Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama700-8530, Japan
| | - Ryo Nagao
- Department of Applied Life Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka422-8529, Japan
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3
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Borg M, Krueger-Hadfield SA, Destombe C, Collén J, Lipinska A, Coelho SM. Red macroalgae in the genomic era. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2023; 240:471-488. [PMID: 37649301 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19211] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 07/24/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Rhodophyta (or red algae) are a diverse and species-rich group that forms one of three major lineages in the Archaeplastida, a eukaryotic supergroup whose plastids arose from a single primary endosymbiosis. Red algae are united by several features, such as relatively small intron-poor genomes and a lack of cytoskeletal structures associated with motility like flagella and centrioles, as well as a highly efficient photosynthetic capacity. Multicellular red algae (or macroalgae) are one of the earliest diverging eukaryotic lineages to have evolved complex multicellularity, yet despite their ecological, evolutionary, and commercial importance, they have remained a largely understudied group of organisms. Considering the increasing availability of red algal genome sequences, we present a broad overview of fundamental aspects of red macroalgal biology and posit on how this is expected to accelerate research in many domains of red algal biology in the coming years.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Borg
- Department of Algal Development and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Stacy A Krueger-Hadfield
- Department of Biology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35294, USA
- Virginia Institute of Marine Science Eastern Shore Laboratory, Wachapreague, VA, 23480, USA
| | - Christophe Destombe
- International Research Laboratory 3614 (IRL3614) - Evolutionary Biology and Ecology of Algae, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne Université, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Universidad Austral de Chile, Roscoff, 29680, France
| | - Jonas Collén
- CNRS, Integrative Biology of Marine Models (LBI2M, UMR8227), Station Biologique de Roscoff, Sorbonne Université, Roscoff, 29680, France
| | - Agnieszka Lipinska
- Department of Algal Development and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Susana M Coelho
- Department of Algal Development and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Biology, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
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4
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Fu HY, Wang MW. Ascorbate peroxidase plays an important role in photoacclimation in the extremophilic red alga Cyanidiococcus yangmingshanensis. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1176985. [PMID: 37332730 PMCID: PMC10272599 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1176985] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/12/2023] [Indexed: 06/20/2023]
Abstract
Introduction Acidothermophilic cyanidiophytes in natural habitats can survive under a wide variety of light regimes, and the exploration and elucidation of their long-term photoacclimation mechanisms promises great potential for further biotechnological applications. Ascorbic acid was previously identified as an important protectant against high light stress in Galdieria partita under mixotrophic conditions, yet whether ascorbic acid and its related enzymatic reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging system was crucial in photoacclimation for photoautotrophic cyanidiophytes was unclear. Methods The significance of ascorbic acid and related ROS scavenging and antioxidant regenerating enzymes in photoacclimation in the extremophilic red alga Cyanidiococcus yangmingshanensis was investigated by measuring the cellular content of ascorbic acid and the activities of ascorbate-related enzymes. Results and discussion Accumulation of ascorbic acid and activation of the ascorbate-related enzymatic ROS scavenging system characterized the photoacclimation response after cells were transferred from a low light condition at 20 μmol photons m-2 s-1 to various light conditions in the range from 0 to 1000 μmol photons m-2 s-1. The activity of ascorbate peroxidase (APX) was most remarkably enhanced with increasing light intensities and illumination periods among the enzymatic activities being measured. Light-dependent regulation of the APX activity was associated with transcriptional regulation of the chloroplast-targeted APX gene. The important role of the APX activity in photoacclimation was evidenced by the effect of the APX inhibitors on the photosystem II activity and the chlorophyll a content under the high light condition at 1000 μmol photons m-2 s-1. Our findings provide a mechanistic explanation for the acclimation of C. yangmingshanensis to a wide range of light regimes in natural habitats.
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Nagao R, Ueno Y, Furutani M, Kato K, Shen JR, Akimoto S. Biochemical and spectroscopic characterization of PSI-LHCI from the red alga Cyanidium caldarium. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2023; 156:315-323. [PMID: 36781711 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-023-00999-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Light-harvesting complexes (LHCs) have been diversified in oxygenic photosynthetic organisms, and play an essential role in capturing light energy which is transferred to two types of photosystem cores to promote charge-separation reactions. Red algae are one of the groups of photosynthetic eukaryotes, and their chlorophyll (Chl) a-binding LHCs are specifically associated with photosystem I (PSI). In this study, we purified three types of preparations, PSI-LHCI supercomplexes, PSI cores, and isolated LHCIs, from the red alga Cyanidium caldarium, and examined their properties. The polypeptide bands of PSI-LHCI showed characteristic PSI and LHCI components without contamination by other proteins. The carotenoid composition of LHCI displayed zeaxanthins, β-cryptoxanthins, and β-carotenes. Among the carotenoids, zeaxanthins were enriched in LHCI. On the contrary, both zeaxanthins and β-cryptoxanthins could not be detected from PSI, suggesting that zeaxanthins and β-cryptoxanthins are bound to LHCI but not PSI. A Qy peak of Chl a in the absorption spectrum of LHCI was shifted to a shorter wavelength than those in PSI and PSI-LHCI. This tendency is in line with the result of fluorescence-emission spectra, in which the emission maxima of PSI-LHCI, PSI, and LHCI appeared at 727, 719, and 677 nm, respectively. Time-resolved fluorescence spectra of LHCI represented no 719 and 727-nm fluorescence bands from picoseconds to nanoseconds. These results indicate that energy levels of Chls around/within LHCIs and within PSI are changed by binding LHCIs to PSI. Based on these findings, we discuss the expression, function, and structure of red algal PSI-LHCI supercomplexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryo Nagao
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama-shi, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan.
- Faculty of Agriculture, Shizuoka University, Shizuoka-shi, Shizuoka, 422-8529, Japan.
| | - Yoshifumi Ueno
- Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, 657-8501, Japan
- Institute of Arts and Science, Tokyo University of Science, Shinjyuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-8601, Japan
| | - Miyu Furutani
- Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, 657-8501, Japan
| | - Koji Kato
- Structural Biology Division, Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI), Sayo-Gun, Hyogo, 679-5198, Japan
| | - Jian-Ren Shen
- Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, Okayama-shi, Okayama, 700-8530, Japan
| | - Seiji Akimoto
- Graduate School of Science, Kobe University, Kobe-shi, Hyogo, 657-8501, Japan.
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6
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Park SI, Cho CH, Ciniglia C, Huang TY, Liu SL, Bustamante DE, Calderon MS, Mansilla A, McDermott T, Andersen RA, Yoon HS. Revised classification of the Cyanidiophyceae based on plastid genome data with descriptions of the Cavernulicolales ord. nov. and Galdieriales ord. nov. (Rhodophyta). JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 2023; 59:444-466. [PMID: 36792488 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.13322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/21/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The Cyanidiophyceae, an extremophilic red algal class, is distributed worldwide in extreme environments. Species grow either in acidic hot environments or in dim light conditions (e.g., "cave Cyanidium"). The taxonomy and classification systems are currently based on morphological, eco-physiological, and molecular phylogenetic characters; however, previous phylogenetic results showed hidden diversity of the Cyanidiophyceae and suggested a revision of the classification system. To clarify phylogenetic relationships within this red algal class, we employ a phylogenomic approach based on 15 plastomes (10 new) and 15 mitogenomes (seven new). Our phylogenies show consistent relationships among four lineages (Galdieria, "cave Cyanidium", Cyanidium, and Cyanidioschyzon lineages). Each lineage is distinguished by organellar genome characteristics. The "cave Cyanidium" lineage is a distinct clade that diverged after the Galdieria clade but within a larger monophyletic clade that included the Cyanidium and Cyanidioschyzon lineages. Because the "cave Cyanidium" lineage is a mesophilic lineage that differs substantially from the other three thermoacidophilic lineages, we describe it as a new order (Cavernulicolales). Based on this evidence, we reclassified the Cyanidiophyceae into four orders: Cyanidiales, Cyanidioschyzonales, Cavernulicolales ord. nov., and Galdieriales ord. nov. The genetic distance among these four orders is comparable to, or greater than, the distances found between other red algal orders and subclasses. Three new genera (Cavernulicola, Gronococcus, Sciadococcus), five new species (Galdieria javensis, Galdieria phlegrea, Galdieria yellowstonensis, Gronococcus sybilensis, Sciadococcus taiwanensis), and a new nomenclatural combination (Cavernulicola chilensis) are proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seung In Park
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Chung Hyun Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Claudia Ciniglia
- Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Science and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Tzu-Yen Huang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
| | - Shao-Lun Liu
- Department of Life Science & Center for Ecology and Environment, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan
| | - Danilo E Bustamante
- Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva (INDES-CES), Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas, Peru
- Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Chile
| | - Martha S Calderon
- Instituto de Investigación para el Desarrollo Sustentable de Ceja de Selva (INDES-CES), Universidad Nacional Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, Amazonas, Peru
- Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Chile
| | - Andres Mansilla
- Cape Horn International Center (CHIC), Chile
- Laboratorio de Macroalgas Antárticas y Subantárticas, Universidad de Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile
| | - Timothy McDermott
- Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana, USA
| | - Robert A Andersen
- Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, Washington, USA
| | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, South Korea
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7
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Barcytė D. Extremophilic red algae reordered. JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 2023; 59:441-443. [PMID: 37313841 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.13328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Dovilė Barcytė
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10, 710 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan
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8
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Steensma AK, Shachar-Hill Y, Walker BJ. The carbon-concentrating mechanism of the extremophilic red microalga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2023; 156:247-264. [PMID: 36780115 PMCID: PMC10154280 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-023-01000-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2022] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Cyanidioschyzon merolae is an extremophilic red microalga which grows in low-pH, high-temperature environments. The basis of C. merolae's environmental resilience is not fully characterized, including whether this alga uses a carbon-concentrating mechanism (CCM). To determine if C. merolae uses a CCM, we measured CO2 uptake parameters using an open-path infra-red gas analyzer and compared them to values expected in the absence of a CCM. These measurements and analysis indicated that C. merolae had the gas-exchange characteristics of a CCM-operating organism: low CO2 compensation point, high affinity for external CO2, and minimized rubisco oxygenation. The biomass δ13C of C. merolae was also consistent with a CCM. The apparent presence of a CCM in C. merolae suggests the use of an unusual mechanism for carbon concentration, as C. merolae is thought to lack a pyrenoid and gas-exchange measurements indicated that C. merolae primarily takes up inorganic carbon as carbon dioxide, rather than bicarbonate. We use homology to known CCM components to propose a model of a pH-gradient-based CCM, and we discuss how this CCM can be further investigated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne K Steensma
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
- Michigan State University - Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Yair Shachar-Hill
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Berkley J Walker
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
- Michigan State University - Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
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9
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Van Etten J, Cho CH, Yoon HS, Bhattacharya D. Extremophilic red algae as models for understanding adaptation to hostile environments and the evolution of eukaryotic life on the early earth. Semin Cell Dev Biol 2023; 134:4-13. [PMID: 35339358 DOI: 10.1016/j.semcdb.2022.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2021] [Revised: 02/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Extremophiles have always garnered great interest because of their exotic lifestyles and ability to thrive at the physical limits of life. In hot springs environments, the Cyanidiophyceae red algae are the only photosynthetic eukaryotes able to live under extremely low pH (0-5) and relatively high temperature (35ºC to 63ºC). These extremophiles live as biofilms in the springs, inhabit acid soils near the hot springs, and form endolithic populations in the surrounding rocks. Cyanidiophyceae represent a remarkable source of knowledge about the evolution of extremophilic lifestyles and their genomes encode specialized enzymes that have applied uses. Here we review the evolutionary origin, taxonomy, genome biology, industrial applications, and use of Cyanidiophyceae as genetic models. Currently, Cyanidiophyceae comprise a single order (Cyanidiales), three families, four genera, and nine species, including the well-known Cyanidioschyzon merolae and Galdieria sulphuraria. These algae have small, gene-rich genomes that are analogous to those of prokaryotes they live and compete with. There are few spliceosomal introns and evidence exists for horizontal gene transfer as a driver of local adaptation to gain access to external fixed carbon and to extrude toxic metals. Cyanidiophyceae offer a variety of commercial opportunities such as phytoremediation to detoxify contaminated soils or waters and exploitation of their mixotrophic lifestyles to support the efficient production of bioproducts such as phycocyanin and floridosides. In terms of exobiology, Cyanidiophyceae are an ideal model system for understanding the evolutionary effects of foreign gene acquisition and the interactions between different organisms inhabiting the same harsh environment on the early Earth. Finally, we describe ongoing research with C. merolae genetics and summarize the unique insights they offer to the understanding of algal biology and evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Van Etten
- Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
| | - Chung Hyun Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, South Korea.
| | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, South Korea.
| | - Debashish Bhattacharya
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA.
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10
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Cho CH, Park SI, Huang TY, Lee Y, Ciniglia C, Yadavalli HC, Yang SW, Bhattacharya D, Yoon HS. Genome-wide signatures of adaptation to extreme environments in red algae. Nat Commun 2023; 14:10. [PMID: 36599855 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-35566-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2022] [Accepted: 12/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The high temperature, acidity, and heavy metal-rich environments associated with hot springs have a major impact on biological processes in resident cells. One group of photosynthetic eukaryotes, the Cyanidiophyceae (Rhodophyta), has successfully thrived in hot springs and associated sites worldwide for more than 1 billion years. Here, we analyze chromosome-level assemblies from three representative Cyanidiophyceae species to study environmental adaptation at the genomic level. We find that subtelomeric gene duplication of functional genes and loss of canonical eukaryotic traits played a major role in environmental adaptation, in addition to horizontal gene transfer events. Shared responses to environmental stress exist in Cyanidiales and Galdieriales, however, most of the adaptive genes (e.g., for arsenic detoxification) evolved independently in these lineages. Our results underline the power of local selection to shape eukaryotic genomes that may face vastly different stresses in adjacent, extreme microhabitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chung Hyun Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Seung In Park
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Tzu-Yen Huang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Yongsung Lee
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Claudia Ciniglia
- Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Science and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy
| | - Hari Chandana Yadavalli
- Department of Systems Biology, Institute of Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
| | - Seong Wook Yang
- Department of Systems Biology, Institute of Life Science and Biotechnology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
| | | | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea.
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11
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Life cycle and functional genomics of the unicellular red alga Galdieria for elucidating algal and plant evolution and industrial use. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2210665119. [PMID: 36194630 PMCID: PMC9565259 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210665119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Sexual reproduction has not been observed in unicellular red algae and Glaucophyceae, early branching groups in Archaeplastida, in which red algae and Viridiplantae independently evolved multicellular sexual life cycles. The finding of sexual reproduction in the unicellular red alga Galdieria provides information on the missing link of life cycle evolution in Archaeplastida. In addition, the metabolic plasticity, the polyextremophilic features, a relatively small genome, transcriptome data for the diploid and haploid, and the genetic modification tools developed here provide a useful platform for understanding the evolution of Archaeplastida, photosynthesis, metabolism, and environmental adaptation. For biotechnological use of the information and tools of Galdieria, the newly found cell wall–less haploid makes cell disruption less energy/cost intensive than the cell-walled diploid. Sexual reproduction is widespread in eukaryotes; however, only asexual reproduction has been observed in unicellular red algae, including Galdieria, which branched early in Archaeplastida. Galdieria possesses a small genome; it is polyextremophile, grows either photoautotrophically, mixotrophically, or heterotrophically, and is being developed as an industrial source of vitamins and pigments because of its high biomass productivity. Here, we show that Galdieria exhibits a sexual life cycle, alternating between cell-walled diploid and cell wall–less haploid, and that both phases can proliferate asexually. The haploid can move over surfaces and undergo self-diploidization or generate heterozygous diploids through mating. Further, we prepared the whole genome and a comparative transcriptome dataset between the diploid and haploid and developed genetic tools for the stable gene expression, gene disruption, and selectable marker recycling system using the cell wall–less haploid. The BELL/KNOX and MADS-box transcription factors, which function in haploid-to-diploid transition and development in plants, are specifically expressed in the haploid and diploid, respectively, and are involved in the haploid-to-diploid transition in Galdieria, providing information on the missing link of the sexual life cycle evolution in Archaeplastida. Four actin genes are differently involved in motility of the haploid and cytokinesis in the diploid, both of which are myosin independent and likely reflect ancestral roles of actin. We have also generated photosynthesis-deficient mutants, such as blue-colored cells, which were depleted in chlorophyll and carotenoids, for industrial pigment production. These features of Galdieria facilitate the understanding of the evolution of algae and plants and the industrial use of microalgae.
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Stadnichuk IN, Tropin IV. Cyanidiales as Polyextreme Eukaryotes. BIOCHEMISTRY. BIOKHIMIIA 2022; 87:472-487. [PMID: 35790381 DOI: 10.1134/s000629792205008x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Revised: 03/28/2022] [Accepted: 04/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Cyanidiales were named enigmatic microalgae due to their unique polyextreme properties, considered for a very long time unattainable for eukaryotes. Cyanidiales mainly inhabit hot sulfuric springs with high acidity (pH 0-4), temperatures up to 56°C, and ability to survive in the presence of dissolved heavy metals. Owing to the minimal for eukaryotes genome size, Cyanidiales have become one of the most important research objects in plant cell physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, phylogenomics, and evolutionary biology. They play an important role in studying many aspects of oxygenic photosynthesis and chloroplasts origin. The ability to survive in stressful habitats and the corresponding metabolic pathways were acquired by Cyanidiales from archaea and bacteria via horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Thus, the possibility of gene transfer from prokaryotes to eukaryotes was discovered, which was a new step in understanding of the origin of eukaryotic cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor N Stadnichuk
- Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 127726, Russia.
| | - Ivan V Tropin
- Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119991, Russia
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van Beveren F, Eme L, López-García P, Ciobanu M, Moreira D. Independent Size Expansions and Intron Proliferation in Red Algal Plastid and Mitochondrial Genomes. Genome Biol Evol 2022; 14:evac037. [PMID: 35289373 PMCID: PMC8995046 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evac037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Proliferation of selfish genetic elements has led to significant genome size expansion in plastid and mitochondrial genomes of various eukaryotic lineages. Within the red algae, such expansion events are only known in the plastid genomes of the Proteorhodophytina, a highly diverse group of mesophilic microalgae. By contrast, they have never been described in the much understudied red algal mitochondrial genomes. Therefore, it remains unclear how widespread such organellar genome expansion events are in this eukaryotic phylum. Here, we describe new mitochondrial and plastid genomes from 25 red algal species, thereby substantially expanding the amount of organellar sequence data available, especially for Proteorhodophytina, and show that genome expansions are common in this group. We confirm that large plastid genomes are limited to the classes Rhodellophyceae and Porphyridiophyceae, which, in part, are caused by lineage-specific expansion events. Independently expanded mitochondrial genomes-up to three times larger than typical red algal mitogenomes-occur across Proteorhodophytina classes and a large shift toward high GC content occurred in the Stylonematophyceae. Although intron proliferation is the main cause of plastid and mitochondrial genome expansion in red algae, we do not observe recent intron transfer between different organelles. Phylogenomic analyses of mitochondrial and plastid genes from our expanded taxon sampling yielded well-resolved phylogenies of red algae with strong support for the monophyly of Proteorhodophytina. Our work shows that organellar genomes followed different evolutionary dynamics across red algal lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian van Beveren
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Orsay, France
| | - Laura Eme
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Orsay, France
| | - Purificación López-García
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Orsay, France
| | - Maria Ciobanu
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Orsay, France
| | - David Moreira
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique—CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, AgroParisTech, Orsay, France
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Miyagishima SY, Tanaka K. The Unicellular Red Alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae-The Simplest Model of a Photosynthetic Eukaryote. PLANT & CELL PHYSIOLOGY 2021; 62:926-941. [PMID: 33836072 PMCID: PMC8504449 DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pcab052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Several species of unicellular eukaryotic algae exhibit relatively simple genomic and cellular architecture. Laboratory cultures of these algae grow faster than plants and often provide homogeneous cellular populations exposed to an almost equal environment. These characteristics are ideal for conducting experiments at the cellular and subcellular levels. Many microalgal lineages have recently become genetically tractable, which have started to evoke new streams of studies. Among such algae, the unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae is the simplest organism; it possesses the minimum number of membranous organelles, only 4,775 protein-coding genes in the nucleus, and its cell cycle progression can be highly synchronized with the diel cycle. These properties facilitate diverse omics analyses of cellular proliferation and structural analyses of the intracellular relationship among organelles. C. merolae cells lack a rigid cell wall and are thus relatively easily disrupted, facilitating biochemical analyses. Multiple chromosomal loci can be edited by highly efficient homologous recombination. The procedures for the inducible/repressive expression of a transgene or an endogenous gene in the nucleus and for chloroplast genome modification have also been developed. Here, we summarize the features and experimental techniques of C. merolae and provide examples of studies using this alga. From these studies, it is clear that C. merolae-either alone or in comparative and combinatory studies with other photosynthetic organisms-can provide significant insights into the biology of photosynthetic eukaryotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shin-Ya Miyagishima
- * Corresponding authors: Shin-Ya Miyagishima, E-mail: ; Fax, +81-55-981-9412; Kan Tanaka, E-mail:
| | - Kan Tanaka
- * Corresponding authors: Shin-Ya Miyagishima, E-mail: ; Fax, +81-55-981-9412; Kan Tanaka, E-mail:
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Cho CH, Park SI, Ciniglia C, Yang EC, Graf L, Bhattacharya D, Yoon HS. Potential causes and consequences of rapid mitochondrial genome evolution in thermoacidophilic Galdieria (Rhodophyta). BMC Evol Biol 2020; 20:112. [PMID: 32892741 PMCID: PMC7487498 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01677-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Cyanidiophyceae is an early-diverged red algal class that thrives in extreme conditions around acidic hot springs. Although this lineage has been highlighted as a model for understanding the biology of extremophilic eukaryotes, little is known about the molecular evolution of their mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes). RESULTS To fill this knowledge gap, we sequenced five mitogenomes from representative clades of Cyanidiophyceae and identified two major groups, here referred to as Galdieria-type (G-type) and Cyanidium-type (C-type). G-type mitogenomes exhibit the following three features: (i) reduction in genome size and gene inventory, (ii) evolution of unique protein properties including charge, hydropathy, stability, amino acid composition, and protein size, and (iii) distinctive GC-content and skewness of nucleotides. Based on GC-skew-associated characteristics, we postulate that unidirectional DNA replication may have resulted in the rapid evolution of G-type mitogenomes. CONCLUSIONS The high divergence of G-type mitogenomes was likely driven by natural selection in the multiple extreme environments that Galdieria species inhabit combined with their highly flexible heterotrophic metabolism. We speculate that the interplay between mitogenome divergence and adaptation may help explain the dominance of Galdieria species in diverse extreme habitats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chung Hyun Cho
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea
| | - Seung In Park
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea
| | - Claudia Ciniglia
- Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Science and Technologies, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81100, Caserta, Italy
| | - Eun Chan Yang
- Marine Ecosystem Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Busan, 49111, South Korea
| | - Louis Graf
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea
| | - Debashish Bhattacharya
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, 08901, USA
| | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Sciences, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, South Korea.
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