Five Non-motile Dinotom Dinoflagellates of the Genus Dinothrix

Dinotoms possess two evolutionary distinct autophagy-related ubiquitin-like conjugation systems

Autophagy is an intracellular degradation mechanism by which cytoplasmic materials are delivered to and degraded in the lysosome-fused autophagosome (autolysosome) and proposed to have been established at an early stage of eukaryotic evolution. Dinoflagellates harboring endosymbiotic diatoms (so-called "dinotoms"), which retain their own nuclei and mitochondria in addition to plastids, have been investigated as an intermediate toward the full integration of a eukaryotic phototroph into the host-controlled organelle (i.e., plastid) through endosymbiosis. Pioneering studies systematically evaluated the degree of host governance on several metabolic pathways in the endosymbiotic diatoms (ESDs). However, little attention has been paid to the impact of the endosymbiotic lifestyle on the autophagy operated in the ESDs. In this study, we searched for ATG3, ATG4, ATG5, ATG7, ATG8, ATG10, and ATG12, which are required for autophagosome formation, in the RNA-seq data from dinotoms Durinskia baltica and Kryptoperidinium foliaceum. We detected two evolutionally distinct sets of the ATG proteins in the dinotom species, one affiliated with the dinoflagellate homologs and the other with the diatom homologs in phylogenetic analyses. The results suggest that the ATG proteins descended from the diatom taken up by the dinoflagellate host persist for autophagosome formation and, most likely, autophagy.

Prey preference in a kleptoplastic dinoflagellate is linked to photosynthetic performance

Dinoflagellates of the family Kryptoperidiniaceae, known as "dinotoms", possess diatom-derived endosymbionts and contain individuals at three successive evolutionary stages: a transiently maintained kleptoplastic stage; a stage containing multiple permanently maintained diatom endosymbionts; and a further permanent stage containing a single diatom endosymbiont. Kleptoplastic dinotoms were discovered only recently, in Durinskia capensis; until now it has not been investigated kleptoplastic behavior and the metabolic and genetic integration of host and prey. Here, we show D. capensis is able to use various diatom species as kleptoplastids and exhibits different photosynthetic capacities depending on the diatom species. This is in contrast with the prey diatoms in their free-living stage, as there are no differences in their photosynthetic capacities. Complete photosynthesis including both the light reactions and the Calvin cycle remain active only when D. capensis feeds on its habitual associate, the "essential" diatom Nitzschia captiva. The organelles of another edible diatom, N. inconspicua, are preserved intact after ingestion by D. capensis and expresses the psbC gene of the photosynthetic light reaction, while RuBisCO gene expression is lost. Our results indicate that edible but non-essential, "supplemental" diatoms are used by D. capensis for producing ATP and NADPH, but not for carbon fixation. D. capensis has established a species-specifically designed metabolic system allowing carbon fixation to be performed only by its essential diatoms. The ability of D. capensis to ingest supplemental diatoms as kleptoplastids may be a flexible ecological strategy, to use these diatoms as "emergency supplies" while no essential diatoms are available.

Assessment of marine benthic diatom communities: insights from a combined morphological-metabarcoding approach in Mediterranean shallow coastal waters

We investigated the advantages and disadvantages of light microscope (LM)-based identifications and DNA metabarcoding, based on a 312-bp rbcL marker, for examining benthic diatom communities from Mediterranean shallow coastal environments. For this, we used biofilm samples collected from different substrata in the Ebro delta bays. We show that 1) Ebro delta bays harbour high-diversity diatom communities [LM identified 249 taxa] and 2) DNA metabarcoding effectively reflects this diversity at genus- but not species level, because of the incompleteness of the DNA reference library. Nevertheless, DNA metabarcoding offers new opportunities for detecting small, delicate and rare diatom species missed by LM and diatoms that lack silica frustules. The primers used, though designed for diatoms, successfully amplified rarely reported members of other stramenopile groups. Combining LM and DNA approaches offers stronger support for ecological studies of benthic microalgal communities in shallow coastal environments than using either approach on its own.

Single cell genomics reveals plastid-lacking Picozoa are close relatives of red algae

The endosymbiotic origin of plastids from cyanobacteria gave eukaryotes photosynthetic capabilities and launched the diversification of countless forms of algae. These primary plastids are found in members of the eukaryotic supergroup Archaeplastida. All known archaeplastids still retain some form of primary plastids, which are widely assumed to have a single origin. Here, we use single-cell genomics from natural samples combined with phylogenomics to infer the evolutionary origin of the phylum Picozoa, a globally distributed but seemingly rare group of marine microbial heterotrophic eukaryotes. Strikingly, the analysis of 43 single-cell genomes shows that Picozoa belong to Archaeplastida, specifically related to red algae and the phagotrophic rhodelphids. These picozoan genomes support the hypothesis that Picozoa lack a plastid, and further reveal no evidence of an early cryptic endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. These findings change our understanding of plastid evolution as they either represent the first complete plastid loss in a free-living taxon, or indicate that red algae and rhodelphids obtained their plastids independently of other archaeplastids.