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De Hoest-Thompson C, Marugan-Hernandez V, Dessens JT. Plasmodium LCCL domain-containing modular proteins have their origins in the ancestral alveolate. Open Biol 2024; 14:230451. [PMID: 38862023 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.230451] [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: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium species encode a unique set of six modular proteins named LCCL lectin domain adhesive-like proteins (LAPs) that operate as a complex and that are essential for malaria parasite transmission from mosquito to vertebrate. LAPs possess complex architectures obtained through unique assemblies of conserved domains associated with lipid, protein and carbohydrate interactions, including the name-defining LCCL domain. Here, we assessed the prevalence of Plasmodium LAP orthologues across eukaryotic life. Our findings show orthologous conservation in all apicomplexans, with lineage-specific repertoires acquired through differential lap gene loss and duplication. Besides Apicomplexa, LAPs are found in their closest relatives: the photosynthetic chromerids, which encode the broadest repertoire including a novel membrane-bound LCCL protein. LAPs are notably absent from other alveolate lineages (dinoflagellates, perkinsids and ciliates), but are encoded by predatory colponemids, a sister group to the alveolates. These results reveal that the LAPs are much older than previously thought and pre-date not only the Apicomplexa but the Alveolata altogether.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Johannes T Dessens
- Department of Infection Biology, Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine , London WC1E 7HT, UK
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2
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Tell I Puig A, Soldati-Favre D. Roles of the tubulin-based cytoskeleton in the Toxoplasma gondii apical complex. Trends Parasitol 2024; 40:401-415. [PMID: 38531711 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2024.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
Microtubules (MTs) play a vital role as key components of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. The phylum Apicomplexa comprises eukaryotic unicellular parasitic organisms defined by the presence of an apical complex which consists of specialized secretory organelles and tubulin-based cytoskeletal elements. One apicomplexan parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, is an omnipresent opportunistic pathogen with significant medical and veterinary implications. To ensure successful infection and widespread dissemination, T. gondii heavily relies on the tubulin structures present in the apical complex. Recent advances in high-resolution imaging, coupled with reverse genetics, have offered deeper insights into the composition, functionality, and dynamics of these tubulin-based structures. The apicomplexan tubulins differ from those of their mammalian hosts, endowing them with unique attributes and susceptibility to specific classes of inhibitory compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Tell I Puig
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, CMU, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
| | - Dominique Soldati-Favre
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, CMU, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
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3
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Gigeroff AS, Eglit Y, Simpson AG. Characterisation and Cultivation of New Lineages of Colponemids, a Critical Assemblage for Inferring Alveolate Evolution. Protist 2023; 174:125949. [PMID: 37019068 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2023.125949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/10/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
There are several alveolate groups outside the well-studied trio - ciliates, dinoflagellates, and apicomplexans - that are crucial for understanding the evolution of this major taxon. One such assemblage is the "colponemids", which are eukaryotrophic biflagellates, usually with a ventral groove associated with the posterior flagellum. Previous phylogenetic studies show colponemids forming up to three distinct deep branches within alveolates (e.g. sister groups to Myzozoa or all other alveolates). We have developed dieukaryotic (predator-prey) cultures of four colponemid isolates. One represents the first stable culture of the halophile Palustrimonas (feeding on Pharyngomonas), while SSU rDNA phylogenies show the other isolates as two distinct new lineages. Neocolponema saponarium gen. et sp. nov. is a swimming alkaliphile with a large groove, which feeds on a kinetoplastid. Loeffela hirca gen. et sp. nov. is halophilic, has a subtle groove, usually moves along surfaces, and feeds on Pharyngomonas and Percolomonas. Prey capture in both new genera is raptorial, involves a specialized structure/region to the right of the proximal posterior flagellum, and presumed extrusomes. The relationships amongst Myzozoa, ciliates, and the (now) five described colponemid clades are unresolved, signaling that colponemid diversity represents both a challenge and important resource for tracing deep alveolate evolution.
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4
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Cui G, Liew YJ, Konciute MK, Zhan Y, Hung SH, Thistle J, Gastoldi L, Schmidt-Roach S, Dekker J, Aranda M. Nutritional control regulates symbiont proliferation and life history in coral-dinoflagellate symbiosis. BMC Biol 2022; 20:103. [PMID: 35549698 PMCID: PMC9102920 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01306-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The coral-Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis is fundamental for the coral reef ecosystem. Corals provide various inorganic nutrients to their algal symbionts in exchange for the photosynthates to meet their metabolic demands. When becoming symbionts, Symbiodiniaceae cells show a reduced proliferation rate and a different life history. While it is generally believed that the animal hosts play critical roles in regulating these processes, far less is known about the molecular underpinnings that allow the corals to induce the changes in their symbionts. Results We tested symbiont cell proliferation and life stage changes in vitro in response to different nutrient-limiting conditions to determine the key nutrients and to compare the respective symbiont transcriptomic profiles to cells in hospite. We then examined the effects of nutrient repletion on symbiont proliferation in coral hosts and quantified life stage transitions in vitro using time-lapse confocal imaging. Here, we show that symbionts in hospite share gene expression and pathway activation profiles with free-living cells under nitrogen-limited conditions, strongly suggesting that symbiont proliferation in symbiosis is limited by nitrogen availability. Conclusions We demonstrate that nitrogen limitation not only suppresses cell proliferation but also life stage transition to maintain symbionts in the immobile coccoid stage. Nutrient repletion experiments in corals further confirmed that nitrogen availability is the major factor limiting symbiont density in hospite. Our study emphasizes the importance of nitrogen in coral-algae interactions and, more importantly, sheds light on the crucial role of nitrogen in symbiont life history regulation. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-022-01306-2.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guoxin Cui
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Yi Jin Liew
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Migle K Konciute
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ye Zhan
- Program in Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Shiou-Han Hung
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Jana Thistle
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Lucia Gastoldi
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sebastian Schmidt-Roach
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
| | - Job Dekker
- Program in Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD, USA
| | - Manuel Aranda
- Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering Division (BESE), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
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Dinoflagellates alter their carbon and nutrient metabolic strategies across environmental gradients in the central Pacific Ocean. Nat Microbiol 2021; 6:173-186. [PMID: 33398100 DOI: 10.1038/s41564-020-00814-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Marine microeukaryotes play a fundamental role in biogeochemical cycling through the transfer of energy to higher trophic levels and vertical carbon transport. Despite their global importance, microeukaryote physiology, nutrient metabolism and contributions to carbon cycling across offshore ecosystems are poorly characterized. Here, we observed the prevalence of dinoflagellates along a 4,600-km meridional transect extending across the central Pacific Ocean, where oligotrophic gyres meet equatorial upwelling waters rich in macronutrients yet low in dissolved iron. A combined multi-omics and geochemical analysis provided a window into dinoflagellate metabolism across the transect, indicating a continuous taxonomic dinoflagellate community that shifted its functional transcriptome and proteome as it extended from the euphotic to the mesopelagic zone. In euphotic waters, multi-omics data suggested that a combination of trophic modes were utilized, while mesopelagic metabolism was marked by cytoskeletal investments and nutrient recycling. Rearrangement in nutrient metabolism was evident in response to variable nitrogen and iron regimes across the gradient, with no associated change in community assemblage. Total dinoflagellate proteins scaled with particulate carbon export, with both elevated in equatorial waters, suggesting a link between dinoflagellate abundance and total carbon flux. Dinoflagellates employ numerous metabolic strategies that enable broad occupation of central Pacific ecosystems and play a dual role in carbon transformation through both photosynthetic fixation in the euphotic zone and remineralization in the mesopelagic zone.
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Ok JH, Jeong HJ, Lee SY, Park SA, Noh JH. Shimiella gen. nov. and Shimiella gracilenta sp. nov. (Dinophyceae, Kareniaceae), a Kleptoplastidic Dinoflagellate from Korean Waters and its Survival under Starvation. JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 2021; 57:70-91. [PMID: 32880944 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.13067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 07/17/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A small dinoflagellate, ~13 μm in cell length, was isolated from Jinhae Bay, Korea. Light microscopy showed that it was similar to the kleptoplastidic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium gracilentum nom. inval. rDNA sequences were obtained and its anatomy and morphology described using light and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that it belonged to the family Kareniaceae. However, its large subunit (LSU) rDNA sequences were 5.2-9.5% different from those of the other five genera in the family, and its clade was clearly divergent from that of each genus. Its overall morphology was different from those of the other five genera in the family and from Gymnodinium. Unlike Gymnodinium, this dinoflagellate did not have a horseshoe-shaped apical groove, nuclear envelope chambers, or a nuclear fibrous connective (NFC). It had an apical line of narrow amphiesmal vesicles and an elongated apical furrow crossing the apex. Cells were covered with polygonal amphiesmal vesicles arranged in 16 rows. Starved cells did not contain their own plastids, eyespots, pyrenoids, peridinin, or fucoxanthin. However, they could survive without added prey for approximately one month using chloroplasts from the cryptophyte prey Teleaulax amphioxeia, indicating kleptoplastidy. Because this taxon is genetically distinct at the generic rank from the other genera in Kareniaceae, it is placed in Shimiella gen. nov., and because G. gracilentum was invalid, the new bionomial S. gracilenta sp. nov. is proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin Hee Ok
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
| | - Hae Jin Jeong
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
- Research Institute of Oceanography, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
| | - Sung Yeon Lee
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
| | - Sang Ah Park
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, College of Natural Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, Korea
| | - Jae Hoon Noh
- Marine Ecosystem and Biological Research Center, Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Busan, 49111, Korea
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7
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Dos Santos Pacheco N, Tosetti N, Koreny L, Waller RF, Soldati-Favre D. Evolution, Composition, Assembly, and Function of the Conoid in Apicomplexa. Trends Parasitol 2020; 36:688-704. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2020] [Revised: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 05/01/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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8
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Cavalier-Smith T. Kingdom Chromista and its eight phyla: a new synthesis emphasising periplastid protein targeting, cytoskeletal and periplastid evolution, and ancient divergences. PROTOPLASMA 2018; 255:297-357. [PMID: 28875267 PMCID: PMC5756292 DOI: 10.1007/s00709-017-1147-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/18/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
In 1981 I established kingdom Chromista, distinguished from Plantae because of its more complex chloroplast-associated membrane topology and rigid tubular multipartite ciliary hairs. Plantae originated by converting a cyanobacterium to chloroplasts with Toc/Tic translocons; most evolved cell walls early, thereby losing phagotrophy. Chromists originated by enslaving a phagocytosed red alga, surrounding plastids by two extra membranes, placing them within the endomembrane system, necessitating novel protein import machineries. Early chromists retained phagotrophy, remaining naked and repeatedly reverted to heterotrophy by losing chloroplasts. Therefore, Chromista include secondary phagoheterotrophs (notably ciliates, many dinoflagellates, Opalozoa, Rhizaria, heliozoans) or walled osmotrophs (Pseudofungi, Labyrinthulea), formerly considered protozoa or fungi respectively, plus endoparasites (e.g. Sporozoa) and all chromophyte algae (other dinoflagellates, chromeroids, ochrophytes, haptophytes, cryptophytes). I discuss their origin, evolutionary diversification, and reasons for making chromists one kingdom despite highly divergent cytoskeletons and trophic modes, including improved explanations for periplastid/chloroplast protein targeting, derlin evolution, and ciliary/cytoskeletal diversification. I conjecture that transit-peptide-receptor-mediated 'endocytosis' from periplastid membranes generates periplastid vesicles that fuse with the arguably derlin-translocon-containing periplastid reticulum (putative red algal trans-Golgi network homologue; present in all chromophytes except dinoflagellates). I explain chromist origin from ancestral corticates and neokaryotes, reappraising tertiary symbiogenesis; a chromist cytoskeletal synapomorphy, a bypassing microtubule band dextral to both centrioles, favoured multiple axopodial origins. I revise chromist higher classification by transferring rhizarian subphylum Endomyxa from Cercozoa to Retaria; establishing retarian subphylum Ectoreta for Foraminifera plus Radiozoa, apicomonad subclasses, new dinozoan classes Myzodinea (grouping Colpovora gen. n., Psammosa), Endodinea, Sulcodinea, and subclass Karlodinia; and ranking heterokont Gyrista as phylum not superphylum.
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9
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Johnke J, Boenigk J, Harms H, Chatzinotas A. Killing the killer: predation between protists and predatory bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2017; 364:3746136. [PMID: 28444379 DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnx089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2017] [Accepted: 04/20/2017] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Predation by microbes is one of the main drivers of bacterial mortality in the environment. In most ecosystems multiple micropredators compete at least partially for the same bacterial resource. Predatory interactions between these micropredators might lead to shifts within microbial communities. Integrating these interactions is therefore crucial for the understanding of ecosystem functioning. In this study, we investigated the predation between two groups of micropredators, i.e. phagotrophic protists and Bdellovibrio and like organisms (BALOs). BALOs are obligate predators of Gram-negative bacteria. We hypothesised that protists can prey upon BALOs despite the small size and high swimming speed of the latter, which makes them potentially hard to capture. Predation experiments including three protists, i.e. one filter feeder and two interception feeder, showed that BALOs are a relevant prey for these protists. The growth rate on BALOs differed for the respective protists. The filter feeding ciliate was growing equally well on the BALOs and on Escherichia coli, whereas the two flagellate species grew less well on the BALOs compared to E. coli. However, BALOs might not be a favourable food source in resource-rich environments as they are not enabling all protists to grow as much as on bacteria of bigger volume.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Johnke
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jens Boenigk
- Biodiversity Department and Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Hauke Harms
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Antonis Chatzinotas
- Department of Environmental Microbiology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, 04318 Leipzig, Germany.,German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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10
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Takahashi K, Moestrup Ø, Wada M, Ishimatsu A, Nguyen VN, Fukuyo Y, Iwataki M. Dactylodinium pterobelotum gen. et sp. nov., a new marine woloszynskioid dinoflagellate positioned between the two families Borghiellaceae and Suessiaceae. JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY 2017; 53:1223-1240. [PMID: 28796896 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 07/22/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
A new marine woloszynskioid dinoflagellate Dactylodinium pterobelotum gen. et sp. nov., collected from a southern Vietnamese estuary, was described on the basis of LM, SEM, and TEM, and molecular phylogeny inferred from rDNA sequences. This species had the smallest number of amphiesmal vesicles (5 latitudinal series) in woloszynskioid dinoflagellates assigned to the Suessiaceae and Borghiellaceae. The eyespot was of type B, composed of osmiophilic globules and brick-like material, located in- and outside of the chloroplast respectively. An apical structure comprised a pair of elongate anterior vesicles (PEV). A large peduncle was conspicuous, located in the sulcal extension in the epicone, and supported by a microtubular strand of ~140 microtubules. Ultrastructural features of trichocysts represent a novel type in the Dinophyceae, bearing lateral hairs besides anterior fibers. The molecular phylogeny based on partial LSU rDNA showed the species in a basal position in the family Suessiaceae; this indicates the eyespot type B and PEV of the Borghiellaceae are ancestral states of the eyespot comprising brick-like material (type E) and an elongate apical vesicle of the Suessiaceae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuya Takahashi
- Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Øjvind Moestrup
- Biological Institute, Section of Marine Biology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 4, DK-2100, Copenhagen K, Denmark
| | - Minoru Wada
- Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyo, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan
| | - Atsushi Ishimatsu
- Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, 1-14 Bunkyo, Nagasaki, 852-8521, Japan
| | - Van Nguyen Nguyen
- Research Institute for Marine Fisheries, 222 Le Hai, Hai Phong, Vietnam
| | - Yasuwo Fukuyo
- Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
| | - Mitsunori Iwataki
- Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan
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11
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Absence of co-phylogeny indicates repeated diatom capture in dinophytes hosting a tertiary endosymbiont. ORG DIVERS EVOL 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s13127-017-0348-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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12
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Strassert JFH, Karnkowska A, Hehenberger E, Del Campo J, Kolisko M, Okamoto N, Burki F, Janouškovec J, Poirier C, Leonard G, Hallam SJ, Richards TA, Worden AZ, Santoro AE, Keeling PJ. Single cell genomics of uncultured marine alveolates shows paraphyly of basal dinoflagellates. ISME JOURNAL 2017; 12:304-308. [PMID: 28994824 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2017.167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2017] [Revised: 07/15/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Marine alveolates (MALVs) are diverse and widespread early-branching dinoflagellates, but most knowledge of the group comes from a few cultured species that are generally not abundant in natural samples, or from diversity analyses of PCR-based environmental SSU rRNA gene sequences. To more broadly examine MALV genomes, we generated single cell genome sequences from seven individually isolated cells. Genes expected of heterotrophic eukaryotes were found, with interesting exceptions like presence of proteorhodopsin and vacuolar H+-pyrophosphatase. Phylogenetic analysis of concatenated SSU and LSU rRNA gene sequences provided strong support for the paraphyly of MALV lineages. Dinoflagellate viral nucleoproteins were found only in MALV groups that branched as sister to dinokaryotes. Our findings indicate that multiple independent origins of several characteristics early in dinoflagellate evolution, such as a parasitic life style, underlie the environmental diversity of MALVs, and suggest they have more varied trophic modes than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jürgen F H Strassert
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Elisabeth Hehenberger
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Javier Del Campo
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.,Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Noriko Okamoto
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Fabien Burki
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Jan Janouškovec
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Camille Poirier
- Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, Moss Landing, CA, USA
| | - Guy Leonard
- Biosciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Steven J Hallam
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | | | - Alyson E Santoro
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, USA
| | - Patrick J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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13
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Reñé A, Alacid E, Ferrera I, Garcés E. Evolutionary Trends of Perkinsozoa (Alveolata) Characters Based on Observations of Two New Genera of Parasitoids of dinoflagellates, Dinovorax gen. nov. and Snorkelia gen. nov. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:1594. [PMID: 28970818 PMCID: PMC5609580 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.01594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2017] [Accepted: 08/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasites are one of the ecologically most relevant groups of marine food webs, but their taxonomic and biological complexity hampers the assessment of their diversity and evolutionary trends. Moreover, the within-host processes that govern parasitoid infection, development and reproduction are often unknown. In this study, we describe a new species of a perkinsozoan endoparasitoid that infects the toxic dinoflagellate Dinophysis sacculus, by including observations of its morphology, ultrastructure, life-cycle development and phylogeny. The SSU rDNA sequence and main morphological features were also obtained for a second parasitoid species infecting the bloom-forming dinoflagellate Levanderina fissa. Phylogenetic analyses including the sequences obtained show that all known Perkinsozoa species infecting dinoflagellates cluster together. However, sequences of Parvilucifera prorocentri and those obtained in this study cluster at the base of the clade, while the rest of Parvilucifera representatives form a separated highly-supported cluster. These results, together with differing morphological characters like the formation of a germ-tube, the presence of trichocysts, or the heterochromatin presence in zoospores nucleus justify the erection of Dinovorax pyriformis gen. nov. et sp. nov., and Snorkelia prorocentri gen. nov. et comb. nov. (=Parvilucifera prorocentri). The morphological features and phylogenetic position of these parasitoids represent ancestral characters for the Perkinsozoa phylum, and also for Dinozoa clade, allowing the inference of the evolutionary framework of these Alveolata members.
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Affiliation(s)
- Albert Reñé
- Departament de Biologia Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisabet Alacid
- Departament de Biologia Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)Barcelona, Spain
| | - Isabel Ferrera
- Departament de Biologia Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)Barcelona, Spain
| | - Esther Garcés
- Departament de Biologia Marina i Oceanografia, Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)Barcelona, Spain
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14
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Evolution of the microtubular cytoskeleton (flagellar apparatus) in parasitic protists. Mol Biochem Parasitol 2016; 209:26-34. [DOI: 10.1016/j.molbiopara.2016.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2015] [Revised: 02/02/2016] [Accepted: 02/05/2016] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
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15
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Targeting Toxoplasma tubules: tubulin, microtubules, and associated proteins in a human pathogen. EUKARYOTIC CELL 2014; 14:2-12. [PMID: 25380753 DOI: 10.1128/ec.00225-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that causes serious opportunistic infections, birth defects, and blindness in humans. Microtubules are critically important components of diverse structures that are used throughout the Toxoplasma life cycle. As in other eukaryotes, spindle microtubules are required for chromosome segregation during replication. Additionally, a set of membrane-associated microtubules is essential for the elongated shape of invasive "zoites," and motility follows a spiral trajectory that reflects the path of these microtubules. Toxoplasma zoites also construct an intricate, tubulin-based apical structure, termed the conoid, which is important for host cell invasion and associates with proteins typically found in the flagellar apparatus. Last, microgametes specifically construct a microtubule-containing flagellar axoneme in order to fertilize macrogametes, permitting genetic recombination. The specialized roles of these microtubule populations are mediated by distinct sets of associated proteins. This review summarizes our current understanding of the role of tubulin, microtubule populations, and associated proteins in Toxoplasma; these components are used for both novel and broadly conserved processes that are essential for parasite survival.
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