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Hollender M, Sałek M, Karlicki M, Karnkowska A. Single-cell genomics revealed Candidatus Grellia alia sp. nov. as an endosymbiont of Eutreptiella sp. (Euglenophyceae). Protist 2024; 175:126018. [PMID: 38325049 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2024.126018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Though endosymbioses between protists and prokaryotes are widespread, certain host lineages have received disproportionate attention what may indicate either a predisposition to such interactions or limited studies on certain protist groups due to lack of cultures. The euglenids represent one such group in spite of microscopic observations showing intracellular bacteria in some strains. Here, we perform a comprehensive molecular analysis of a previously identified endosymbiont in the Eutreptiella sp. CCMP3347 using a single cell approach and bulk culture sequencing. The genome reconstruction of this endosymbiont allowed the description of a new endosymbiont Candidatus Grellia alia sp. nov. from the family Midichloriaceae. Comparative genomics revealed a remarkably complete conjugative type IV secretion system present in three copies on the plasmid sequences of the studied endosymbiont, a feature missing in the closely related Grellia incantans. This study addresses the challenge of limited host cultures with endosymbionts by showing that the genomes of endosymbionts reconstructed from single host cells have the completeness and contiguity that matches or exceeds those coming from bulk cultures. This paves the way for further studies of endosymbionts in euglenids and other protist groups. The research also provides the opportunity to study the diversity of endosymbionts in natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Metody Hollender
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marta Sałek
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Michał Karlicki
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-096 Warsaw, Poland.
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2
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Del Campo J, Carlos-Oliveira M, Čepička I, Hehenberger E, Horák A, Karnkowska A, Kolisko M, Lara E, Lukeš J, Pánek T, Piwosz K, Richter DJ, Škaloud P, Sutak R, Tachezy J, Hampl V. The protist cultural renaissance. Trends Microbiol 2024; 32:128-131. [PMID: 38102035 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2023.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Protists are key players in the biosphere. Here, we provide a perspective on integrating protist culturing with omics approaches, imaging, and high-throughput single-cell manipulation strategies, concluding with actions required for a successful return of the golden age of protist culturing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Javier Del Campo
- Biodiversity Program, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC - Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
| | - Maria Carlos-Oliveira
- Functional Genomics and Evolution Program, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC - Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Elisabeth Hehenberger
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Aleš Horák
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Molecular Biology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Molecular Biology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Enrique Lara
- Department of Mycology, Real Jardín Botánico-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Molecular Biology, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Pánek
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Kasia Piwosz
- Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia, Poland
| | - Daniel J Richter
- Functional Genomics and Evolution Program, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC - Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Pavel Škaloud
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Robert Sutak
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Jan Tachezy
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, BIOCEV, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
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Novák LVF, Treitli SC, Pyrih J, Hałakuc P, Pipaliya SV, Vacek V, Brzoň O, Soukal P, Eme L, Dacks JB, Karnkowska A, Eliáš M, Hampl V. Genomics of Preaxostyla Flagellates Illuminates the Path Towards the Loss of Mitochondria. PLoS Genet 2023; 19:e1011050. [PMID: 38060519 PMCID: PMC10703272 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1011050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 12/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The notion that mitochondria cannot be lost was shattered with the report of an oxymonad Monocercomonoides exilis, the first eukaryote arguably without any mitochondrion. Yet, questions remain about whether this extends beyond the single species and how this transition took place. The Oxymonadida is a group of gut endobionts taxonomically housed in the Preaxostyla which also contains free-living flagellates of the genera Trimastix and Paratrimastix. The latter two taxa harbour conspicuous mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs). Here we report high-quality genome and transcriptome assemblies of two Preaxostyla representatives, the free-living Paratrimastix pyriformis and the oxymonad Blattamonas nauphoetae. We performed thorough comparisons among all available genomic and transcriptomic data of Preaxostyla to further decipher the evolutionary changes towards amitochondriality, endobiosis, and unstacked Golgi. Our results provide insights into the metabolic and endomembrane evolution, but most strikingly the data confirm the complete loss of mitochondria for all three oxymonad species investigated (M. exilis, B. nauphoetae, and Streblomastix strix), suggesting the amitochondriate status is common to a large part if not the whole group of Oxymonadida. This observation moves this unique loss to 100 MYA when oxymonad lineage diversified.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukáš V. F. Novák
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
- Université de Bretagne Occidentale, CNRS, Unité Biologie et Ecologie des Ecosystèmes Marins Profonds BEEP, IUEM, Plouzané, France
| | - Sebastian C. Treitli
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
- RG Insect Gut Microbiology and Symbiosis, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany
| | - Jan Pyrih
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Paweł Hałakuc
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Shweta V. Pipaliya
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Vojtěch Vacek
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Brzoň
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Soukal
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Laura Eme
- Ecology, Systematics, and Evolution Unit, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, Orsay, France
| | - Joel B. Dacks
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czechia
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marek Eliáš
- University of Ostrava, Faculty of Science, Department of Biology and Ecology, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec, Czech Republic
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4
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Hehenberger E, Boscaro V, James ER, Hirakawa Y, Trznadel M, Mtawali M, Fiorito R, Del Campo J, Karnkowska A, Kolisko M, Irwin NAT, Mathur V, Scheffrahn RH, Keeling PJ. New Parabasalia symbionts Snyderella spp. and Daimonympha gen. nov. from South American Rugitermes termites and the parallel evolution of a cell with a rotating "head". J Eukaryot Microbiol 2023; 70:e12987. [PMID: 37282792 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12987] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/28/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Most Parabasalia are symbionts in the hindgut of "lower" (non-Termitidae) termites, where they widely vary in morphology and degree of morphological complexity. Large and complex cells in the class Cristamonadea evolved by replicating a fundamental unit, the karyomastigont, in various ways. We describe here four new species of Calonymphidae (Cristamonadea) from Rugitermes hosts, assigned to the genus Snyderella based on diagnostic features (including the karyomastigont pattern) and molecular phylogeny. We also report a new genus of Calonymphidae, Daimonympha, from Rugitermes laticollis. Daimonympha's morphology does not match that of any known Parabasalia, and its SSU rRNA gene sequence corroborates this distinction. Daimonympha does however share a puzzling feature with a few previously described, but distantly related, Cristamonadea: a rapid, smooth, and continuous rotation of the anterior end of the cell, including the many karyomastigont nuclei. The function of this rotatory movement, the cellular mechanisms enabling it, and the way the cell deals with the consequent cell membrane shear, are all unknown. "Rotating wheel" structures are famously rare in biology, with prokaryotic flagella being the main exception; these mysterious spinning cells found only among Parabasalia are another, far less understood, example.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabeth Hehenberger
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Vittorio Boscaro
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Erick R James
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Yoshihisa Hirakawa
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Morelia Trznadel
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Mahara Mtawali
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Rebecca Fiorito
- 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
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Nicholas A T Irwin
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Varsha Mathur
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Patrick J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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5
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Žárský V, Karnkowska A, Boscaro V, Trznadel M, Whelan TA, Hiltunen-Thorén M, Onut-Brännström I, Abbott CL, Fast NM, Burki F, Keeling PJ. Contrasting outcomes of genome reduction in mikrocytids and microsporidians. BMC Biol 2023; 21:137. [PMID: 37280585 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01635-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Intracellular symbionts often undergo genome reduction, losing both coding and non-coding DNA in a process that ultimately produces small, gene-dense genomes with few genes. Among eukaryotes, an extreme example is found in microsporidians, which are anaerobic, obligate intracellular parasites related to fungi that have the smallest nuclear genomes known (except for the relic nucleomorphs of some secondary plastids). Mikrocytids are superficially similar to microsporidians: they are also small, reduced, obligate parasites; however, as they belong to a very different branch of the tree of eukaryotes, the rhizarians, such similarities must have evolved in parallel. Since little genomic data are available from mikrocytids, we assembled a draft genome of the type species, Mikrocytos mackini, and compared the genomic architecture and content of microsporidians and mikrocytids to identify common characteristics of reduction and possible convergent evolution. RESULTS At the coarsest level, the genome of M. mackini does not exhibit signs of extreme genome reduction; at 49.7 Mbp with 14,372 genes, the assembly is much larger and gene-rich than those of microsporidians. However, much of the genomic sequence and most (8075) of the protein-coding genes code for transposons, and may not contribute much of functional relevance to the parasite. Indeed, the energy and carbon metabolism of M. mackini share several similarities with those of microsporidians. Overall, the predicted proteome involved in cellular functions is quite reduced and gene sequences are extremely divergent. Microsporidians and mikrocytids also share highly reduced spliceosomes that have retained a strikingly similar subset of proteins despite having reduced independently. In contrast, the spliceosomal introns in mikrocytids are very different from those of microsporidians in that they are numerous, conserved in sequence, and constrained to an exceptionally narrow size range (all 16 or 17 nucleotides long) at the shortest extreme of known intron lengths. CONCLUSIONS Nuclear genome reduction has taken place many times and has proceeded along different routes in different lineages. Mikrocytids show a mix of similarities and differences with other extreme cases, including uncoupling the actual size of a genome with its functional reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vojtečh Žárský
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Vittorio Boscaro
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada.
| | - Morelia Trznadel
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada
| | - Thomas A Whelan
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada
| | - Markus Hiltunen-Thorén
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyv. 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ioana Onut-Brännström
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyv. 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Ecology and Genetics, Uppsala University, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
- Natural History Museum, University of Oslo, 0562, Oslo, Norway
| | - Cathryn L Abbott
- Pacific Biological Station, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N7, Canada
| | - Naomi M Fast
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada
| | - Fabien Burki
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyv. 18D, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Patrick J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, 3529-6270 University Boulevard, BC, Canada.
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Rackevei AS, Karnkowska A, Wolf M. 18S rDNA sequence-structure phylogeny of the Euglenophyceae (Euglenozoa, Euglenida). J Eukaryot Microbiol 2023; 70:e12959. [PMID: 36478494 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12959] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Revised: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The phylogeny of Euglenophyceae (Euglenozoa, Euglenida) has been discussed for decades with new genera being described in the last few years. In this study, we reconstruct a phylogeny using 18S rDNA sequence and structural data simultaneously. Using homology modeling, individual secondary structures were predicted. Sequence-structure data are encoded and automatically aligned. Here, we present a sequence-structure neighbor-joining tree of more than 300 taxa classified as Euglenophyceae. Profile neighbor-joining was used to resolve the basal branching pattern. Neighbor-joining, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood analyses were performed using sequence-structure information for manually chosen subsets. All analyses supported the monophyly of Eutreptiella, Discoplastis, Lepocinclis, Strombomonas, Cryptoglena, Monomorphina, Euglenaria, and Colacium. Well-supported topologies were generally consistent with previous studies using a combined dataset of genetic markers. Our study supports the simultaneous use of sequence and structural data to reconstruct more accurate and robust trees. The average bootstrap value is significantly higher than the average bootstrap value obtained from sequence-only analyses, which is promising for resolving relationships between more closely related taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonia S Rackevei
- Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Matthias Wolf
- Department of Bioinformatics, Biocenter, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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7
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Maciszewski K, Fells A, Karnkowska A. Challenging the Importance of Plastid Genome Structure Conservation: New Insights From Euglenophytes. Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6834297. [PMID: 36403966 PMCID: PMC9728796 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Plastids, similar to mitochondria, are organelles of endosymbiotic origin, which retained their vestigial genomes (ptDNA). Their unique architecture, commonly referred to as the quadripartite (four-part) structure, is considered to be strictly conserved; however, the bulk of our knowledge on their variability and evolutionary transformations comes from studies of the primary plastids of green algae and land plants. To broaden our perspective, we obtained seven new ptDNA sequences from freshwater species of photosynthetic euglenids-a group that obtained secondary plastids, known to have dynamically evolving genome structure, via endosymbiosis with a green alga. Our analyses have demonstrated that the evolutionary history of euglenid plastid genome structure is exceptionally convoluted, with a patchy distribution of inverted ribosomal operon (rDNA) repeats, as well as several independent acquisitions of tandemly repeated rDNA copies. Moreover, we have shown that inverted repeats in euglenid ptDNA do not share their genome-stabilizing property documented in chlorophytes. We hypothesize that the degeneration of the quadripartite structure of euglenid plastid genomes is connected to the group II intron expansion. These findings challenge the current global paradigms of plastid genome architecture evolution and underscore the often-underestimated divergence between the functionality of shared traits in primary and complex plastid organelles.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Alicja Fells
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
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8
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Ebenezer TE, Low RS, O'Neill EC, Huang I, DeSimone A, Farrow SC, Field RA, Ginger ML, Guerrero SA, Hammond M, Hampl V, Horst G, Ishikawa T, Karnkowska A, Linton EW, Myler P, Nakazawa M, Cardol P, Sánchez-Thomas R, Saville BJ, Shah MR, Simpson AGB, Sur A, Suzuki K, Tyler KM, Zimba PV, Hall N, Field MC. Euglena International Network (EIN): Driving euglenoid biotechnology for the benefit of a challenged world. Biol Open 2022; 11:bio059561. [PMID: 36412269 PMCID: PMC9836076 DOI: 10.1242/bio.059561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Euglenoids (Euglenida) are unicellular flagellates possessing exceptionally wide geographical and ecological distribution. Euglenoids combine a biotechnological potential with a unique position in the eukaryotic tree of life. In large part these microbes owe this success to diverse genetics including secondary endosymbiosis and likely additional sources of genes. Multiple euglenoid species have translational applications and show great promise in production of biofuels, nutraceuticals, bioremediation, cancer treatments and more exotically as robotics design simulators. An absence of reference genomes currently limits these applications, including development of efficient tools for identification of critical factors in regulation, growth or optimization of metabolic pathways. The Euglena International Network (EIN) seeks to provide a forum to overcome these challenges. EIN has agreed specific goals, mobilized scientists, established a clear roadmap (Grand Challenges), connected academic and industry stakeholders and is currently formulating policy and partnership principles to propel these efforts in a coordinated and efficient manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
| | - Ross S. Low
- Organisms and Ecosystems, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
| | | | - Ishuo Huang
- Office of Regulatory Science, United States Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, College Park, MD 20740, USA
| | - Antonio DeSimone
- The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa 56127, Italy
| | - Scott C. Farrow
- Discovery Biology, Noblegen Inc., Peterborough, Ontario K9L 1Z8, Canada
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario K9L 0G2, Canada
| | - Robert A. Field
- Department of Chemistry and Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7DN, UK
| | - Michael L. Ginger
- School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
| | - Sergio Adrián Guerrero
- Laboratorio de Enzimología Molecular, Instituto de Agrobiotecnología del Litoral. CCT CONICET Santa Fe, Santa Fe 3000, Argentina
| | - Michael Hammond
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice 370 05, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Vestec 25250, Czech Republic
| | - Geoff Horst
- Kemin Industries, Research and Development, Plymouth, MI 48170, USA
| | - Takahiro Ishikawa
- Institute of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Academic Assembly, Shimane University, Matsue 690-8504, Japan
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 02-089, Poland
| | - Eric W. Linton
- Department of Biology, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859, USA
| | - Peter Myler
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute and Department of Biomedical Informatics & Medical Education, University of Washington, WA 98109, USA
| | - Masami Nakazawa
- Department of Applied Biochemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Osaka Metropolitan University, Sakai, Osaka, 599-8531, Japan
| | - Pierre Cardol
- Department of Life Sciences, Institut de Botanique, Université de Liège, Liège 4000, Belgium
| | | | - Barry J. Saville
- Forensic Science, Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough K9L 0G2, Canada
| | - Mahfuzur R. Shah
- Discovery Biology, Noblegen Inc., Peterborough, Ontario K9L 1Z8, Canada
| | - Alastair G. B. Simpson
- Department of Biology and Institute for Comparative Genomics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Aakash Sur
- Center for Global Infectious Disease Research, Seattle Children's Research Institute and Department of Biomedical Informatics & Medical Education, University of Washington, WA 98109, USA
| | - Kengo Suzuki
- R&D Company, Euglena Co., Ltd., 2F Yokohama Bio Industry Center (YBIC), 1-6 Suehiro, Tsurumi, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 230-0045, Japan
| | - Kevin M. Tyler
- Biomedical Research Centre, Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
- Center of Excellence for Bionanoscience Research, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Paul V. Zimba
- PVZimba, LLC, 12241 Percival St, Chester, VA 23831, USA
- Rice Rivers Center, VA Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 23284, USA
| | - Neil Hall
- Organisms and Ecosystems, Earlham Institute, Norwich Research Park, Norwich NR4 7UZ, UK
- School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, Norfolk, UK
| | - Mark C. Field
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice 370 05, Czech Republic
- School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Dundee DD1 5EH, UK
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Kaszecki E, Kennedy V, Shah M, Maciszewski K, Karnkowska A, Linton E, Ginger ML, Farrow S, Ebenezer TE. Meeting Report: Euglenids in the Age of Symbiogenesis: Origins, Innovations, and Prospects, November 8-11, 2021. Protist 2022; 173:125894. [PMID: 35772300 DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2022.125894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2022] [Revised: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 06/02/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Emma Kaszecki
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Victoria Kennedy
- Environmental and Life Sciences Graduate Program, Trent University, Peterborough, ON K9J 7B8, Canada
| | - Mahfuzur Shah
- Department of Cell Biology, Metabolism and Systems Biology, Noblegen Inc., 2140 East Bank Dr, Peterborough, ON, Canada
| | - Kacper Maciszewski
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Eric Linton
- Central Michigan University, Department of Biology, Mount Pleasant, MI 48859, USA
| | - Michael L Ginger
- School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, Queensgate, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK.
| | - Scott Farrow
- Department of Cell Biology, Metabolism and Systems Biology, Noblegen Inc., 2140 East Bank Dr, Peterborough, ON, Canada
| | - ThankGod Echezona Ebenezer
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SD, UK
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Hałakuc P, Karnkowska A, Milanowski R. Typical structure of rRNA coding genes in diplonemids points to two independent origins of the bizarre rDNA structures of euglenozoans. BMC Ecol Evol 2022; 22:59. [PMID: 35534840 PMCID: PMC9082867 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-022-02014-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Members of Euglenozoa (Discoba) are known for unorthodox rDNA organization. In Euglenida rDNA is located on extrachromosomal circular DNA. In Kinetoplastea and Euglenida the core of the large ribosomal subunit, typically formed by the 28S rRNA, consists of several smaller rRNAs. They are the result of the presence of additional internal transcribed spacers (ITSs) in the rDNA. Diplonemea is the third of the main groups of Euglenozoa and its members are known to be among the most abundant and diverse protists in the oceans. Despite that, the rRNA of only one diplonemid species, Diplonema papillatum, has been examined so far and found to exhibit continuous 28S rRNA. Currently, the rDNA organization has not been researched for any diplonemid. Herein we investigate the structure of rRNA genes in classical (Diplonemidae) and deep-sea diplonemids (Eupelagonemidae), representing the majority of known diplonemid diversity. The results fill the gap in knowledge about diplonemid rDNA and allow better understanding of the evolution of the fragmented structure of the rDNA in Euglenozoa. Results We used available genomic (culture and single-cell) sequencing data to assemble complete or almost complete rRNA operons for three classical and six deep-sea diplonemids. The rDNA sequences acquired for several euglenids and kinetoplastids were used to provide the background for the analysis. In all nine diplonemids, 28S rRNA seems to be contiguous, with no additional ITSs detected. Similarly, no additional ITSs were detected in basal prokinetoplastids. However, we identified five additional ITSs in the 28S rRNA of all analysed metakinetoplastids, and up to twelve in euglenids. Only three of these share positions, and they cannot be traced back to their common ancestor. Conclusions Presented results indicate that independent origin of additional ITSs in euglenids and kinetoplastids seems to be the most likely. The reason for such unmatched fragmentation remains unknown, but for some reason euglenozoan ribosomes appear to be prone to 28S rRNA fragmentation. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12862-022-02014-9.
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Cho A, Tikhonenkov DV, Hehenberger E, Karnkowska A, Mylnikov AP, Keeling PJ. Monophyly of Diverse Bigyromonadea and their Impact on Phylogenomic Relationships Within Stramenopiles. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2022; 171:107468. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Revised: 02/11/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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12
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Maciszewski K, Dabbagh N, Preisfeld A, Karnkowska A. Maturyoshka: a maturase inside a maturase, and other peculiarities of the novel chloroplast genomes of marine euglenophytes. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2022; 170:107441. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2021] [Revised: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Abstract
Monocercomonoides exilis is considered the first known eukaryote to completely lack mitochondria. This conclusion is based primarily on a genomic and transcriptomic study which failed to identify any mitochondrial hallmark proteins. However, the available genome assembly has limited contiguity and around 1.5 % of the genome sequence is represented by unknown bases. To improve the contiguity, we re-sequenced the genome and transcriptome of M. exilis using Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT). The resulting draft genome is assembled in 101 contigs with an N50 value of 1.38 Mbp, almost 20 times higher than the previously published assembly. Using a newly generated ONT transcriptome, we further improve the gene prediction and add high quality untranslated region (UTR) annotations, in which we identify two putative polyadenylation signals present in the 3′UTR regions and characterise the Kozak sequence in the 5′UTR regions. All these improvements are reflected by higher BUSCO genome completeness values. Regardless of an overall more complete genome assembly without missing bases and a better gene prediction, we still failed to identify any mitochondrial hallmark genes, thus further supporting the hypothesis on the absence of mitochondrion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Cristian Treitli
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, 252 42 Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Priscila Peña-Diaz
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, 252 42 Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Paweł Hałakuc
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, Průmyslová 595, 252 42 Vestec, Czech Republic
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Karlicki M, Antonowicz S, Karnkowska A. Tiara: deep learning-based classification system for eukaryotic sequences. Bioinformatics 2021; 38:344-350. [PMID: 34570171 PMCID: PMC8722755 DOI: 10.1093/bioinformatics/btab672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
MOTIVATION With a large number of metagenomic datasets becoming available, eukaryotic metagenomics emerged as a new challenge. The proper classification of eukaryotic nuclear and organellar genomes is an essential step toward a better understanding of eukaryotic diversity. RESULTS We developed Tiara, a deep-learning-based approach for the identification of eukaryotic sequences in the metagenomic datasets. Its two-step classification process enables the classification of nuclear and organellar eukaryotic fractions and subsequently divides organellar sequences into plastidial and mitochondrial. Using the test dataset, we have shown that Tiara performed similarly to EukRep for prokaryotes classification and outperformed it for eukaryotes classification with lower calculation time. In the tests on the real data, Tiara performed better than EukRep in analyzing the small dataset representing eukaryotic cell microbiome and large dataset from the pelagic zone of oceans. Tiara is also the only available tool correctly classifying organellar sequences, which was confirmed by the recovery of nearly complete plastid and mitochondrial genomes from the test data and real metagenomic data. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION Tiara is implemented in python 3.8, available at https://github.com/ibe-uw/tiara and tested on Unix-based systems. It is released under an open-source MIT license and documentation is available at https://ibe-uw.github.io/tiara. Version 1.0.1 of Tiara has been used for all benchmarks. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michał Karlicki
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology & Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
| | - Stanisław Antonowicz
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology & Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warszawa 02-089, Poland
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Kostygov AY, Karnkowska A, Votýpka J, Tashyreva D, Maciszewski K, Yurchenko V, Lukeš J. Euglenozoa: taxonomy, diversity and ecology, symbioses and viruses. Open Biol 2021; 11:200407. [PMID: 33715388 PMCID: PMC8061765 DOI: 10.1098/rsob.200407] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Euglenozoa is a species-rich group of protists, which have extremely diverse lifestyles and a range of features that distinguish them from other eukaryotes. They are composed of free-living and parasitic kinetoplastids, mostly free-living diplonemids, heterotrophic and photosynthetic euglenids, as well as deep-sea symbiontids. Although they form a well-supported monophyletic group, these morphologically rather distinct groups are almost never treated together in a comparative manner, as attempted here. We present an updated taxonomy, complemented by photos of representative species, with notes on diversity, distribution and biology of euglenozoans. For kinetoplastids, we propose a significantly modified taxonomy that reflects the latest findings. Finally, we summarize what is known about viruses infecting euglenozoans, as well as their relationships with ecto- and endosymbiotic bacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexei Y Kostygov
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic.,Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jan Votýpka
- Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.,Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Daria Tashyreva
- Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Kacper Maciszewski
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Vyacheslav Yurchenko
- Life Science Research Centre, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic.,Martsinovsky Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector Borne Diseases, Sechenov University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.,Faculty of Sciences, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
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16
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Lax G, Kolisko M, Eglit Y, Lee WJ, Yubuki N, Karnkowska A, Leander BS, Burger G, Keeling PJ, Simpson AGB. Multigene phylogenetics of euglenids based on single-cell transcriptomics of diverse phagotrophs. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2021; 159:107088. [PMID: 33545276 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2020] [Revised: 01/24/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Euglenids are a well-known group of single-celled eukaryotes, with phototrophic, osmotrophic and phagotrophic members. Phagotrophs represent most of the phylogenetic diversity of euglenids, and gave rise to the phototrophs and osmotrophs, but their evolutionary relationships are poorly understood. Symbiontids, in contrast, are anaerobes that are alternatively inferred to be derived euglenids, or a separate euglenozoan group. Most phylogenetic studies of euglenids have examined the SSU rDNA only, which is often highly divergent. Also, many phagotrophic euglenids (and symbiontids) are uncultured, restricting collection of other molecular data. We generated transcriptome data for 28 taxa, mostly using a single-cell approach, and conducted the first multigene phylogenetic analyses of euglenids to include phagotrophs and symbiontids. Euglenids are recovered as monophyletic, with symbiontids forming an independent branch within Euglenozoa. Spirocuta, the clade of flexible euglenids that contains both the phototrophs (Euglenophyceae) and osmotrophs (Aphagea), is robustly resolved, with the ploeotid Olkasia as its sister group, forming the new taxon Olkaspira. Ploeotids are paraphyletic, although Ploeotiidae (represented by Ploeotia spp.), Lentomonas, and Keelungia form a robust clade (new taxon Alistosa). Petalomonadida branches robustly as sister to other euglenids in outgroup-rooted analyses. Within Spirocuta, Euglenophyceae is a robust clade that includes Rapaza, and Anisonemia is a well-supported monophyletic group containing Anisonemidae (Anisonema and Dinema spp.), 'Heteronema II' (represented by H. vittatum), and a clade of Neometanema plus Aphagea. Among 'peranemid' phagotrophs, Chasmostoma branches with included Urceolus, and Peranema with the undescribed 'Jenningsia II', while other relationships are weakly supported and consequently the closest sister group to Euglenophyceae remains unresolved. Our results are inconsistent with recent inferences that Entosiphon is the evolutionarily pivotal sister either to other euglenids, or to Spirocuta. At least three transitions between posterior and anterior flagellar gliding occurred in euglenids, with the phylogenetic positions and directions of those transitions remaining ambiguous.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Lax
- Department of Biology, and Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada; Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada(1)
| | - M Kolisko
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Y Eglit
- Department of Biology, and Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - W J Lee
- Department of Environment and Energy Engineering, Kyungnam University, Changwon, Republic of Korea
| | - N Yubuki
- Unité d'Ecologie Systématique et Evolution, CNRS, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - A Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - B S Leander
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - G Burger
- Robert-Cedergren Centre for Bioinformatics and Genomics, Biochemistry Department, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - P J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada(1)
| | - A G B Simpson
- Department of Biology, and Centre for Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
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17
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Bakuła Z, Gromadka R, Gawor J, Siedlecki P, Pomorski JJ, Maciszewski K, Gromadka A, Karnkowska A, Jagielski T. Sequencing and Analysis of the Complete Organellar Genomes of Prototheca wickerhamii. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:1296. [PMID: 32983192 PMCID: PMC7492744 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.01296] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/07/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Of the Prototheca genus, Prototheca wickerhamii has the highest clinical significance in humans. However, neither nuclear nor organellar genomes of this species were sequenced until now. The hitherto determined and analyzed mitochondrial and plastid genomes of the alleged P. wickerhamii species belong in fact to another species, recently named Prototheca xanthoriae. This study provides a first insight into the organellar genomes of a true P. wickerhamii (type strain ATCC 16529). The P. wickerhamii mitochondrion had a 53.8-kb genome, which was considerably larger than that of Prototheca ciferrii (formerly Prototheca zopfii gen. 1) and Prototheca bovis (formerly Prototheca zopfii gen. 2), yet similarly functional, with the differences in size attributable to a higher number of introns and the presence of extra unique putative genes. The 48-kb plastid genome of P. wickerhamii, compared to autotrophic Trebouxiophyceae, was highly reduced due to the elimination of the photosynthesis-related genes. The gene content of the plastid genome of P. wickerhamii was, however, very similar to other colorless Prototheca species. Plastid genome-based phylogeny reinforced the polyphyly of the genus Prototheca, with Helicosporidium and Auxenochlorella branching within clades of Prototheca species. Phylogenetic reconstruction also confirmed the close relationship of P. wickerhamii and P. xanthoriae, which is reflected in the synteny of their organellar genomes. Interestingly, the entire set of atp genes was lost in P. wickerhamii plastid genome while being preserved in P. xanthoriae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zofia Bakuła
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Microbiology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Robert Gromadka
- DNA Sequencing and Oligonucleotides Synthesis Laboratory at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jan Gawor
- DNA Sequencing and Oligonucleotides Synthesis Laboratory at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Paweł Siedlecki
- Department of Systems Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
| | - Jan J. Pomorski
- Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Kacper Maciszewski
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Agnieszka Gromadka
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS), Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Poland
| | - Tomasz Jagielski
- Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Microbiology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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18
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Maciszewski K, Karnkowska A. Explosive intron expansion and fickle rDNA copies within plastid genomes of Euglenophyta. Access Microbiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1099/acmi.ac2020.po0310] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Several eukaryotic lineages gained the ability of photosynthesis by acquiring plastids in the events of primary endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria, or secondary endosymbiosis with plastid-bearing eukaryotes. Plastids possess genomes (ptDNA) with genetic contents considerably reduced as a result of gene losses and transfers to the host’s nucleus. Still, ptDNA encodes components of various metabolic processes, including photosynthesis. Plastid genomes usually retain quadripartite structure with two rDNA-bearing inverted repeats, but the reason for its conservation, and the consequences of its decline, have not been fully understood.
As the model group to study plastid genome evolution, we chose euglenids (Euglenophyta), whose ancestor acquired the secondary plastid by endosymbiosis with a green alga. The organization of ptDNA in this lineage is rather diverse: we have shown that loss of one repeat occurred at least three times, while some species in the genus Euglena possess tandemly repeated rDNA copies. The ptDNA of euglenids is also intron-rich, but we did not confirm the previously proposed strong correlation between the prevalence of introns and quantity of maturases.
Although euglenophytes are predominantly photosynthetic, a few of them lost their photosynthetic capabilities independently. Thus far, only Euglena longa has been shown to possess vestigial plastids with reduced genome; we observed that another strain lost its plastid genome completely. Currently, we are investigating the loss and retention of metabolic functions in the plastids of other non-photosynthetic euglenophytes. This, along with investigation of ptDNA structure, will bring new insights into the evolutionary processes shaping the diversity of eukaryotic plastids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kacper Maciszewski
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre,Faculty of Biology,University of Warsaw
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Biological and Chemical Research Centre,Faculty of Biology,University of Warsaw
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Lukešová S, Karlicki M, Tomečková Hadariová L, Szabová J, Karnkowska A, Hampl V. Analyses of environmental sequences and two regions of chloroplast genomes revealed the presence of new clades of photosynthetic euglenids in marine environments. Environ Microbiol Rep 2020; 12:78-91. [PMID: 31845515 DOI: 10.1111/1758-2229.12817] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Euglenophyceae are unicellular algae with the majority of their diversity known from small freshwater reservoirs. Only two dozen species have been described to occur in marine habitats, but their abundance and diversity remain unexplored. Phylogenetic studies revealed marine prasinophyte green alga, Pyramimonas parkeae, as the closest extant relative of the euglenophytes' plastid, but similarly to euglenophytes, our knowledge about the diversity of Pyramimonadales is limited. Here we explored Euglenophyceae and Pyramimonadales phylogenetic diversity in marine environmental samples. We yielded 18S rDNA and plastid 16S rDNA sequences deposited in public repositories and reconstructed Euglenophyceae reference trees. We searched high-throughput environmental sequences from the TARA Oceans expedition and Ocean Sampling Day initiative for 18S rDNA and 16S rDNA, placed them in the phylogenetic context and estimated their relative abundances. To avoid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bias, we also exploited metagenomic data from the TARA Oceans expedition for the presence of rRNA sequences from these groups. Finally, we targeted these protists in coastal samples by specific PCR amplification of two parts of the plastid genome uniquely shared between euglenids and Pyramimonadales. All approaches revealed previously undetected, but relatively low-abundant lineages of marine Euglenophyceae. Surprisingly, some of those lineages are branching within the freshwater or brackish genera.
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Affiliation(s)
- Soňa Lukešová
- Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Charles University, Průmyslová, 595, Vestec, 25250, Czech Republic
| | - Michał Karlicki
- Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warsaw, 02 089, Poland
| | - Lucia Tomečková Hadariová
- Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Charles University, Průmyslová, 595, Vestec, 25250, Czech Republic
| | - Jana Szabová
- Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Charles University, Průmyslová, 595, Vestec, 25250, Czech Republic
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, Warsaw, 02 089, Poland
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Faculty of Science, Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Charles University, Průmyslová, 595, Vestec, 25250, Czech Republic
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Kayama M, Maciszewski K, Yabuki A, Miyashita H, Karnkowska A, Kamikawa R. Highly Reduced Plastid Genomes of the Non-photosynthetic Dictyochophyceans Pteridomonas spp. (Ochrophyta, SAR) Are Retained for tRNA-Glu-Based Organellar Heme Biosynthesis. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:602455. [PMID: 33329672 PMCID: PMC7728698 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.602455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Organisms that have lost their photosynthetic capabilities are present in a variety of eukaryotic lineages, such as plants and disparate algal groups. Most of such non-photosynthetic eukaryotes still carry plastids, as these organelles retain essential biological functions. Most non-photosynthetic plastids possess genomes with varied protein-coding contents. Such remnant plastids are known to be present in the non-photosynthetic, bacteriovorous alga Pteridomonas danica (Dictyochophyceae, Ochrophyta), which, regardless of its obligatory heterotrophic lifestyle, has been reported to retain the typically plastid-encoded gene for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) large subunit (rbcL). The presence of rbcL without photosynthetic activity suggests that investigating the function of plastids in Pteridomonas spp. would likely bring unique insights into understanding the reductive evolution of plastids, their genomes, and plastid functions retained after the loss of photosynthesis. In this study, we demonstrate that two newly established strains of the non-photosynthetic genus Pteridomonas possess highly reduced plastid genomes lacking rbcL gene, in contrast to the previous report. Interestingly, we discovered that all plastid-encoded proteins in Pteridomonas spp. are involved only in housekeeping processes (e.g., transcription, translation and protein degradation), indicating that all metabolite synthesis pathways in their plastids are supported fully by nuclear genome-encoded proteins. Moreover, through an in-depth survey of the available transcriptomic data of another strain of the genus, we detected no candidate sequences for nuclear-encoded, plastid-directed Fe-S cluster assembly pathway proteins, suggesting complete loss of this pathway in the organelle, despite its widespread conservation in non-photosynthetic plastids. Instead, the transcriptome contains plastid-targeted components of heme biosynthesis, glycolysis, and pentose phosphate pathways. The retention of the plastid genomes in Pteridomonas spp. is not explained by the Suf-mediated constraint against loss of plastid genomes, previously proposed for Alveolates, as they lack Suf genes. Bearing all these findings in mind, we propose the hypothesis that plastid DNA is retained in Pteridomonas spp. for the purpose of providing glutamyl-tRNA, encoded by trnE gene, as a substrate for the heme biosynthesis pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Motoki Kayama
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kacper Maciszewski
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Akinori Yabuki
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Hideaki Miyashita
- Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- *Correspondence: Anna Karnkowska,
| | - Ryoma Kamikawa
- Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
- Ryoma Kamikawa,
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21
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Kolisko M, Flegontova O, Karnkowska A, Lax G, Maritz JM, Pánek T, Táborský P, Carlton JM, Čepička I, Horák A, Lukeš J, Simpson AGB, Tai V. EukRef-excavates: seven curated SSU ribosomal RNA gene databases. Database (Oxford) 2020; 2020:5996027. [PMID: 33216898 PMCID: PMC7678783 DOI: 10.1093/database/baaa080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Revised: 08/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
The small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene is a widely used molecular marker to study the diversity of life. Sequencing of SSU rRNA gene amplicons has become a standard approach for the investigation of the ecology and diversity of microbes. However, a well-curated database is necessary for correct classification of these data. While available for many groups of Bacteria and Archaea, such reference databases are absent for most eukaryotes. The primary goal of the EukRef project (eukref.org) is to close this gap and generate well-curated reference databases for major groups of eukaryotes, especially protists. Here we present a set of EukRef-curated databases for the excavate protists—a large assemblage that includes numerous taxa with divergent SSU rRNA gene sequences, which are prone to misclassification. We identified 6121 sequences, 625 of which were obtained from cultures, 3053 from cell isolations or enrichments and 2419 from environmental samples. We have corrected the classification for the majority of these curated sequences. The resulting publicly available databases will provide phylogenetically based standards for the improved identification of excavates in ecological and microbiome studies, as well as resources to classify new discoveries in excavate diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kolisko
- Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Olga Flegontova
- Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, 02-089 Warsaw, Poland.,Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 43 Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Gordon Lax
- Department of Biology and Centre of Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Julia M Maritz
- Department of Biology, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Tomáš Pánek
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Táborský
- Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Jane M Carlton
- Department of Biology, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Aleš Horák
- Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Biology Centre, Institute of Parasitology, Czech Academy of Sciences, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic.,Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, 370 05 České Budeějovice (Budweis), Czech Republic
| | - Alastair G B Simpson
- Department of Biology and Centre of Comparative Genomics and Evolutionary Bioinformatics, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Vera Tai
- Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada
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22
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Jagielski T, Bakuła Z, Gawor J, Maciszewski K, Kusber WH, Dyląg M, Nowakowska J, Gromadka R, Karnkowska A. The genus Prototheca (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta) revisited: Implications from molecular taxonomic studies. ALGAL RES 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.algal.2019.101639] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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23
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Han KY, Maciszewski K, Graf L, Yang JH, Andersen RA, Karnkowska A, Yoon HS. Dictyochophyceae Plastid Genomes Reveal Unusual Variability in Their Organization. J Phycol 2019; 55:1166-1180. [PMID: 31325913 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
Dictyochophyceae (silicoflagellates) are unicellular freshwater and marine algae (Heterokontophyta, stramenopiles). Despite their abundance in global oceans and potential ecological significance, discovered in recent years, neither nuclear nor organellar genomes of representatives of this group were sequenced until now. Here, we present the first complete plastid genome sequences of Dictyochophyceae, obtained from four species: Dictyocha speculum, Rhizochromulina marina, Florenciella parvula and Pseudopedinella elastica. Despite their comparable size and genetic content, these four plastid genomes exhibit variability in their organization: plastid genomes of F. parvula and P. elastica possess conventional quadripartite structure with a pair of inverted repeats, R. marina instead possesses two direct repeats with the same orientation and D. speculum possesses no repeats at all. We also observed a number of unusual traits in the plastid genome of D. speculum, including expansion of the intergenic regions, presence of an intron in the otherwise non-intron-bearing psaA gene, and an additional copy of the large subunit of RuBisCO gene (rbcL), the last of which has never been observed in any plastid genome. We conclude that despite noticeable gene content similarities between the plastid genomes of Dictyochophyceae and their relatives (pelagophytes, diatoms), the number of distinctive features observed in this lineage strongly suggests that additional taxa require further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kwi Young Han
- Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Kacper Maciszewski
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Louis Graf
- Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Ji Hyun Yang
- Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
| | - Robert A Andersen
- Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, Washington, 98250, USA
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Hwan Su Yoon
- Department of Biological Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, 16419, Korea
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24
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Karnkowska A, Treitli SC, Brzoň O, Novák L, Vacek V, Soukal P, Barlow LD, Herman EK, Pipaliya SV, Pánek T, Žihala D, Petrželková R, Butenko A, Eme L, Stairs CW, Roger AJ, Eliáš M, Dacks JB, Hampl V. The Oxymonad Genome Displays Canonical Eukaryotic Complexity in the Absence of a Mitochondrion. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:2292-2312. [PMID: 31387118 PMCID: PMC6759080 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery that the protist Monocercomonoides exilis completely lacks mitochondria demonstrates that these organelles are not absolutely essential to eukaryotic cells. However, the degree to which the metabolism and cellular systems of this organism have adapted to the loss of mitochondria is unknown. Here, we report an extensive analysis of the M. exilis genome to address this question. Unexpectedly, we find that M. exilis genome structure and content is similar in complexity to other eukaryotes and less "reduced" than genomes of some other protists from the Metamonada group to which it belongs. Furthermore, the predicted cytoskeletal systems, the organization of endomembrane systems, and biosynthetic pathways also display canonical eukaryotic complexity. The only apparent preadaptation that permitted the loss of mitochondria was the acquisition of the SUF system for Fe-S cluster assembly and the loss of glycine cleavage system. Changes in other systems, including in amino acid metabolism and oxidative stress response, were coincident with the loss of mitochondria but are likely adaptations to the microaerophilic and endobiotic niche rather than the mitochondrial loss per se. Apart from the lack of mitochondria and peroxisomes, we show that M. exilis is a fully elaborated eukaryotic cell that is a promising model system in which eukaryotic cell biology can be investigated in the absence of mitochondria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Sebastian C Treitli
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Ondřej Brzoň
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Lukáš Novák
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Vacek
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Petr Soukal
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Lael D Barlow
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Emily K Herman
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Shweta V Pipaliya
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Tomáš Pánek
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - David Žihala
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Romana Petrželková
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Anzhelika Butenko
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Laura Eme
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Courtney W Stairs
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Andrew J Roger
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Marek Eliáš
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
- Institute of Environmental Technologies, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Joel B Dacks
- Division of Infectious Disease, Department of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, BIOCEV, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vestec, Czech Republic
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25
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Adl SM, Bass D, Lane CE, Lukeš J, Schoch CL, Smirnov A, Agatha S, Berney C, Brown MW, Burki F, Cárdenas P, Čepička I, Chistyakova L, del Campo J, Dunthorn M, Edvardsen B, Eglit Y, Guillou L, Hampl V, Heiss AA, Hoppenrath M, James TY, Karnkowska A, Karpov S, Kim E, Kolisko M, Kudryavtsev A, Lahr DJ, Lara E, Le Gall L, Lynn DH, Mann DG, Massana R, Mitchell EA, Morrow C, Park JS, Pawlowski JW, Powell MJ, Richter DJ, Rueckert S, Shadwick L, Shimano S, Spiegel FW, Torruella G, Youssef N, Zlatogursky V, Zhang Q. Revisions to the Classification, Nomenclature, and Diversity of Eukaryotes. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2019; 66:4-119. [PMID: 30257078 PMCID: PMC6492006 DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 563] [Impact Index Per Article: 112.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2018] [Accepted: 09/04/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
This revision of the classification of eukaryotes follows that of Adl et al., 2012 [J. Euk. Microbiol. 59(5)] and retains an emphasis on protists. Changes since have improved the resolution of many nodes in phylogenetic analyses. For some clades even families are being clearly resolved. As we had predicted, environmental sampling in the intervening years has massively increased the genetic information at hand. Consequently, we have discovered novel clades, exciting new genera and uncovered a massive species level diversity beyond the morphological species descriptions. Several clades known from environmental samples only have now found their home. Sampling soils, deeper marine waters and the deep sea will continue to fill us with surprises. The main changes in this revision are the confirmation that eukaryotes form at least two domains, the loss of monophyly in the Excavata, robust support for the Haptista and Cryptista. We provide suggested primer sets for DNA sequences from environmental samples that are effective for each clade. We have provided a guide to trophic functional guilds in an appendix, to facilitate the interpretation of environmental samples, and a standardized taxonomic guide for East Asian users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sina M. Adl
- Department of Soil SciencesCollege of Agriculture and Bioresources, University of SaskatchewanSaskatoonS7N 5A8SKCanada
| | - David Bass
- Department of Life SciencesThe Natural History MuseumCromwell RoadLondonSW7 5BDUnited Kingdom
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS)Barrack Road, The NotheWeymouthDorsetDT4 8UBUnited Kingdom
| | - Christopher E. Lane
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of Rhode IslandKingstonRhode Island02881USA
| | - Julius Lukeš
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology CentreCzech Academy of SciencesČeské Budějovice37005Czechia
- Faculty of ScienceUniversity of South BohemiaČeské Budějovice37005Czechia
| | - Conrad L. Schoch
- National Institute for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of HealthBethesdaMaryland20892USA
| | - Alexey Smirnov
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyFaculty of BiologySaint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg199034Russia
| | - Sabine Agatha
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of SalzburgHellbrunnerstrasse 34SalzburgA‐5020Austria
| | - Cedric Berney
- CNRS, UMR 7144 (AD2M), Groupe Evolution des Protistes et Ecosystèmes PélagiquesStation Biologique de RoscoffPlace Georges TeissierRoscoff29680France
| | - Matthew W. Brown
- Department of Biological SciencesMississippi State UniversityStarkville39762MississippiUSA
- Institute for Genomics, Biocomputing & BiotechnologyMississippi State UniversityStarkville39762MississippiUSA
| | - Fabien Burki
- Department of Organismal BiologyProgram in Systematic BiologyScience for Life LaboratoryUppsala UniversityUppsala75236Sweden
| | - Paco Cárdenas
- Pharmacognosy, Department of Medicinal ChemistryUppsala UniversityBMC Box 574UppsalaSE‐75123Sweden
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of ZoologyFaculty of ScienceCharles UniversityVinicna 7Prague128 44Czechia
| | - Lyudmila Chistyakova
- Core Facility Centre for Culture Collection of MicroorganismsSaint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg198504Russia
| | - Javier del Campo
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSICPasseig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37‐49Barcelona08003CataloniaSpain
| | - Micah Dunthorn
- Department of EcologyUniversity of KaiserslauternErwin‐Schroedinger StreetKaiserslauternD‐67663Germany
- Department of Eukaryotic MicrobiologyUniversity of Duisburg‐EssenUniversitätsstrasse 5EssenD‐45141Germany
| | - Bente Edvardsen
- Department of BiosciencesUniversity of OsloP.O. Box 1066 BlindernOslo0316Norway
| | - Yana Eglit
- Department of BiologyDalhousie UniversityHalifaxB3H 4R2NSCanada
| | - Laure Guillou
- Sorbonne Université, Université Pierre et Marie Curie ‐ Paris 6, CNRS, UMR 7144 (AD2M)Station Biologique de RoscoffPlace Georges Teissier, CS90074Roscoff29688France
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of ParasitologyFaculty of ScienceCharles University, BIOCEVPrůmyslová 595Vestec252 42Czechia
| | - Aaron A. Heiss
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew York CityNew York10024USA
| | - Mona Hoppenrath
- Senckenberg am Meer, DZMB – German Centre for Marine Biodiversity ResearchWilhelmshaven26382Germany
| | - Timothy Y. James
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of MichiganAnn ArborMichigan48109USA
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionUniversity of WarsawWarsaw02‐089Poland
| | - Sergey Karpov
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyFaculty of BiologySaint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg199034Russia
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionUniversity of WarsawWarsaw02‐089Poland
| | - Eunsoo Kim
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryNew York CityNew York10024USA
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology CentreCzech Academy of SciencesČeské Budějovice37005Czechia
| | - Alexander Kudryavtsev
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyFaculty of BiologySaint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg199034Russia
- Laboratory of Parasitic Worms and ProtistologyZoological Institute RASSaint Petersburg199034Russia
| | - Daniel J.G. Lahr
- Department of ZoologyInstitute of BiosciencesUniversity of Sao PauloMatao Travessa 14 Cidade UniversitariaSao Paulo05508‐090Sao PauloBrazil
| | - Enrique Lara
- Laboratory of Soil BiodiversityUniversity of NeuchâtelRue Emile‐Argand 11Neuchâtel2000Switzerland
- Real Jardín Botánico, CSICPlaza de Murillo 2Madrid28014Spain
| | - Line Le Gall
- Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, Muséum National d'Histoire NaturelleSorbonne Universités57 rue Cuvier, CP 39Paris75005France
| | - Denis H. Lynn
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of GuelphSummerlee Science ComplexGuelphONN1G 2W1Canada
- Department of ZoologyUniversity of British Columbia4200‐6270 University Blvd.VancouverBCV6T 1Z4Canada
| | - David G. Mann
- Royal Botanic GardenEdinburghEH3 5LRUnited Kingdom
- Institute for Agrifood Research and TechnologyC/Poble Nou km 5.5Sant Carles de La RàpitaE‐43540Spain
| | - Ramon Massana
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, CSICPasseig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37‐49Barcelona08003CataloniaSpain
| | - Edward A.D. Mitchell
- Laboratory of Soil BiodiversityUniversity of NeuchâtelRue Emile‐Argand 11Neuchâtel2000Switzerland
- Jardin Botanique de NeuchâtelChemin du Perthuis‐du‐Sault 58Neuchâtel2000Switzerland
| | - Christine Morrow
- Department of Natural SciencesNational Museums Northern Ireland153 Bangor RoadHolywoodBT18 OEUUnited Kingdom
| | - Jong Soo Park
- Department of Oceanography and Kyungpook Institute of OceanographySchool of Earth System SciencesKyungpook National UniversityDaeguKorea
| | - Jan W. Pawlowski
- Department of Genetics and EvolutionUniversity of Geneva1211Geneva 4Switzerland
| | - Martha J. Powell
- Department of Biological SciencesThe University of AlabamaTuscaloosaAlabama35487USA
| | - Daniel J. Richter
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC‐Universitat Pompeu Fabra)Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta 37‐49Barcelona08003CataloniaSpain
| | - Sonja Rueckert
- School of Applied SciencesEdinburgh Napier UniversityEdinburghEH11 4BNUnited Kingdom
| | - Lora Shadwick
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of ArkansasFayettevilleArkansasAR 72701USA
| | - Satoshi Shimano
- Science Research CentreHosei University2‐17‐1 FujimiChiyoda‐kuTokyo102‐8160Japan
| | - Frederick W. Spiegel
- Department of Biological SciencesUniversity of ArkansasFayettevilleArkansasAR 72701USA
| | - Guifré Torruella
- Laboratoire Evolution et Systématique, Université Paris‐XIOrsay91405France
| | - Noha Youssef
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular GeneticsOklahoma State UniversityStillwaterOklahoma74074USA
| | - Vasily Zlatogursky
- Department of Invertebrate ZoologyFaculty of BiologySaint Petersburg State UniversitySaint Petersburg199034Russia
- Department of Organismal BiologySystematic Biology ProgramUppsala UniversityUppsalaSE‐752 36Sweden
| | - Qianqian Zhang
- Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone ResearchChinese Academy of ScienceYantai264003China
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26
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Abstract
Photosynthetic euglenids (Euglenophyta) are a monophyletic group of unicellular eukaryotes characterized by the presence of plastids, which arose as the result of the secondary endosymbiosis. Many Euglenophyta plastid (pt) genomes have been characterized recently, but they represented mainly one family - Euglenaceae. Here, we report a comparative analysis of plastid genomes from eight representatives of the family Phacaceae. Newly sequenced plastid genomes share a number of features including synteny and gene content, except for genes mat2 and mat5 encoding maturases. The observed diversity of intron number and presence/absence of maturases corroborated previously suggested correlation between the number of maturases in the pt genome and intron proliferation. Surprisingly, pt genomes of taxa belonging to Discoplastis and Lepocinclis encode two inverted repeat (IR) regions containing the rDNA operon, which are absent from the Euglenaceae. By mapping the presence/absence of IR region on the obtained phylogenomic tree, we reconstructed the most probable events in the evolution of IRs in the Euglenophyta. Our study highlights the dynamic nature of the Euglenophyta plastid genome, in particular with regards to the IR regions that underwent losses repeatedly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Matthew S Bennett
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Rd, Room# 166 Plant Biology Labs, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Richard E Triemer
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Rd, Room# 166 Plant Biology Labs, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
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27
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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 J 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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [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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28
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Boscaro V, James ER, Fiorito R, Hehenberger E, Karnkowska A, Del Campo J, Kolisko M, Irwin NAT, Mathur V, Scheffrahn RH, Keeling PJ. Molecular characterization and phylogeny of four new species of the genus Trichonympha (Parabasalia, Trichonymphea) from lower termite hindguts. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2017; 67:3570-3575. [PMID: 28840814 DOI: 10.1099/ijsem.0.002169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Members of the genus Trichonympha are among the most well-known, recognizable and widely distributed parabasalian symbionts of lower termites and the wood-eating cockroach species of the genus Cryptocercus. Nevertheless, the species diversity of this genus is largely unknown. Molecular data have shown that the superficial morphological similarities traditionally used to identify species are inadequate, and have challenged the view that the same species of the genus Trichonympha can occur in many different host species. Ambiguities in the literature, uncertainty in identification of both symbiont and host, and incomplete samplings are limiting our understanding of the systematics, ecology and evolution of this taxon. Here we describe four closely related novel species of the genus Trichonympha collected from South American and Australian lower termites: Trichonympha hueyi sp. nov. from Rugitermes laticollis, Trichonympha deweyi sp. nov. from Glyptotermes brevicornis, Trichonympha louiei sp. nov. from Calcaritermes temnocephalus and Trichonympha webbyae sp. nov. from Rugitermes bicolor. We provide molecular barcodes to identify both the symbionts and their hosts, and infer the phylogeny of the genus Trichonympha based on small subunit rRNA gene sequences. The analysis confirms the considerable divergence of symbionts of members of the genus Cryptocercus, and shows that the two clades of the genus Trichonympha harboured by termites reflect only in part the phylogeny of their hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vittorio Boscaro
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Erick R James
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Rebecca Fiorito
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Javier Del Campo
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre, Czech Academy of Sciences, České Budějovice, Czech Republic
| | - Nicholas A T Irwin
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Varsha Mathur
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Patrick J Keeling
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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Abstract
Euglenids (Excavata, Discoba, Euglenozoa, Euglenida) is a group of free-living, single-celled flagellates living in the aquatic environments. The uniting and unique morphological feature of euglenids is the presence of a cell covering called the pellicle. The morphology and organization of the pellicle correlate well with the mode of nutrition and cell movement. Euglenids exhibit diverse modes of nutrition, including phagotrophy and photosynthesis. Photosynthetic species (Euglenophyceae) constitute a single subclade within euglenids. Their plastids embedded by three membranes arose as the result of a secondary endosymbiosis between phagotrophic eukaryovorous euglenid and the Pyramimonas-related green alga. Within photosynthetic euglenids three evolutionary lineages can be distinguished. The most basal lineage is formed by one mixotrophic species, Rapaza viridis. Other photosynthetic euglenids are split into two groups: predominantly marine Eutreptiales and freshwater Euglenales. Euglenales are divided into two families: Phacaceae, comprising three monophyletic genera (Discoplastis, Lepocinclis, Phacus) and Euglenaceae with seven monophyletic genera (Euglenaformis, Euglenaria, Colacium, Cryptoglena, Strombomonas, Trachelomonas, Monomorphina) and polyphyletic genus Euglena. For 150 years researchers have been studying Euglena based solely on morphological features what resulted in hundreds of descriptions of new taxa and many artificial intra-generic classification systems. In spite of the progress towards defining Euglena, it still remains polyphyletic and morphologically almost undistinguishable from members of the recently described genus Euglenaria; members of both genera have cells undergoing metaboly (dynamic changes in cell shape), large chloroplasts with pyrenoids and monomorphic paramylon grains. Model organisms Euglena gracilis Klebs, the species of choice for addressing fundamental questions in eukaryotic biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, is a representative of the genus Euglena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bożena Zakryś
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Rafał Milanowski
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
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Łukomska-Kowalczyk M, Karnkowska A, Krupska M, Milanowski R, Zakryś B. DNA barcoding in autotrophic euglenids: evaluation of COI and 18s rDNA. J Phycol 2016; 52:951-960. [PMID: 27317884 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2016] [Accepted: 05/28/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Autotrophic euglenids (Euglenophyceae) are a common and abundant group of microbial eukaryotes in freshwater habitats. They have a limited number of features, which can be observed using light microscopy, thus species identification is often problematic. Establishing a barcode for this group is therefore an important step toward the molecular identification of autotrophic euglenids. Based on the literature, we selected verified species and used a plethora of available methods to validate two molecular markers: COI and 18S rDNA (the whole sequence and three fragments separately) as potential DNA barcodes. Analyses of the COI gene were performed based on the data set of 43 sequences (42 obtained in this study) representing 24 species and the COI gene was discarded as a DNA barcode mainly due to a lack of universal primer sites. For 18S rDNA analyses we used a data set containing 263 sequences belonging to 86 taxonomically verified species. We demonstrated that the whole 18S rDNA is too long to be a useful marker, but from the three shorter analyzed variable regions we recommend variable regions V2V3 and V4 of 18S rDNA as autotrophic euglenid barcodes due to their high efficiency (above 95% and 90%, respectively).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Łukomska-Kowalczyk
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Małgorzata Krupska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Rafał Milanowski
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Bożena Zakryś
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, ul. Żwirki i Wigury 101, 02-089, Warszawa, Poland
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31
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Novák L, Zubáčová Z, Karnkowska A, Kolisko M, Hroudová M, Stairs CW, Simpson AGB, Keeling PJ, Roger AJ, Čepička I, Hampl V. Arginine deiminase pathway enzymes: evolutionary history in metamonads and other eukaryotes. BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:197. [PMID: 27716026 PMCID: PMC5052871 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0771-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2015] [Accepted: 09/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Multiple prokaryotic lineages use the arginine deiminase (ADI) pathway for anaerobic energy production by arginine degradation. The distribution of this pathway among eukaryotes has been thought to be very limited, with only two specialized groups living in low oxygen environments (Parabasalia and Diplomonadida) known to possess the complete set of all three enzymes. We have performed an extensive survey of available sequence data in order to map the distribution of these enzymes among eukaryotes and to reconstruct their phylogenies. RESULTS We have found genes for the complete pathway in almost all examined representatives of Metamonada, the anaerobic protist group that includes parabasalids and diplomonads. Phylogenetic analyses indicate the presence of the complete pathway in the last common ancestor of metamonads and heterologous transformation experiments suggest its cytosolic localization in the metamonad ancestor. Outside Metamonada, the complete pathway occurs rarely, nevertheless, it was found in representatives of most major eukaryotic clades. CONCLUSIONS Phylogenetic relationships of complete pathways are consistent with the presence of the Archaea-derived ADI pathway in the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes, although other evolutionary scenarios remain possible. The presence of the incomplete set of enzymes is relatively common among eukaryotes and it may be related to the fact that these enzymes are involved in other cellular processes, such as the ornithine-urea cycle. Single protein phylogenies suggest that the evolutionary history of all three enzymes has been shaped by frequent gene losses and horizontal transfers, which may sometimes be connected with their diverse roles in cellular metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lukáš Novák
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Zubáčová
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Martin Kolisko
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
| | - Miluše Hroudová
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Courtney W. Stairs
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | | | | | - Andrew J. Roger
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Faculty of Science, Prague, Czech Republic
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32
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Abstract
Due to their involvement in the energy metabolism, mitochondria are essential for most eukaryotic cells. Microbial eukaryotes living in low oxygen environments possess reduced forms of mitochondria, namely mitochondrion-related organelles (MROs). These do not produce ATP by oxidative phosphorylation on their membranes and some do not produce ATP at all. Still, they are indispensable because of other essential functions such as iron-sulphur (Fe-S) cluster assembly. Recently, the first microbial eukaryote with neither mitochondrion nor MRO was characterized - Monocercomonoides sp. Genome and transcriptome sequencing of Monocercomonoides revealed that it lacks all hallmark mitochondrial proteins. Crucially, the essential mitochondrial pathway for the Fe-S cluster assembly (ISC) was replaced by a bacterial sulphur mobilization (SUF) system. The discovery of such bona fide amitochondriate eukaryote broadens our knowledge about the diversity and plasticity of eukaryotic cells and provides a substantial contribution to our understanding of eukaryotic cell evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
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33
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Karnkowska A, Vacek V, Zubáčová Z, Treitli SC, Petrželková R, Eme L, Novák L, Žárský V, Barlow LD, Herman EK, Soukal P, Hroudová M, Doležal P, Stairs CW, Roger AJ, Eliáš M, Dacks JB, Vlček Č, Hampl V. A Eukaryote without a Mitochondrial Organelle. Curr Biol 2016; 26:1274-84. [PMID: 27185558 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.03.053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 218] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2015] [Revised: 03/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The presence of mitochondria and related organelles in every studied eukaryote supports the view that mitochondria are essential cellular components. Here, we report the genome sequence of a microbial eukaryote, the oxymonad Monocercomonoides sp., which revealed that this organism lacks all hallmark mitochondrial proteins. Crucially, the mitochondrial iron-sulfur cluster assembly pathway, thought to be conserved in virtually all eukaryotic cells, has been replaced by a cytosolic sulfur mobilization system (SUF) acquired by lateral gene transfer from bacteria. In the context of eukaryotic phylogeny, our data suggest that Monocercomonoides is not primitively amitochondrial but has lost the mitochondrion secondarily. This is the first example of a eukaryote lacking any form of a mitochondrion, demonstrating that this organelle is not absolutely essential for the viability of a eukaryotic cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic; Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, University of Warsaw, Warsaw 00478, Poland.
| | - Vojtěch Vacek
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Zuzana Zubáčová
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Sebastian C Treitli
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Romana Petrželková
- Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 710 00, Czech Republic
| | - Laura Eme
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Lukáš Novák
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Vojtěch Žárský
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Lael D Barlow
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Emily K Herman
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Petr Soukal
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Miluše Hroudová
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague 14220, Czech Republic
| | - Pavel Doležal
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic
| | - Courtney W Stairs
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Andrew J Roger
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Marek Eliáš
- Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Ostrava 710 00, Czech Republic
| | - Joel B Dacks
- Department of Cell Biology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Čestmír Vlček
- Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague 14220, Czech Republic
| | - Vladimír Hampl
- Department of Parasitology, Charles University in Prague, Prague 12843, Czech Republic.
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Milanowski R, Gumińska N, Karnkowska A, Ishikawa T, Zakryś B. Intermediate introns in nuclear genes of euglenids - are they a distinct type? BMC Evol Biol 2016; 16:49. [PMID: 26923034 PMCID: PMC4770533 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-016-0620-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2015] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Nuclear genes of euglenids contain two major types of introns: conventional spliceosomal and nonconventional introns. The latter are characterized by variable non-canonical borders, RNA secondary structure that brings intron ends together, and an unknown mechanism of removal. Some researchers also distinguish intermediate introns, which combine features of both types. They form a stable RNA secondary structure and are classified into two subtypes depending on whether they contain one (intermediate/nonconventional subtype) or both (conventional/intermediate subtype) canonical spliceosomal borders. However, it has been also postulated that most introns classified as intermediate could simply be special cases of conventional or nonconventional introns. Results Sequences of tubB, hsp90 and gapC genes from six strains of Euglena agilis were obtained. They contain four, six, and two or three introns, respectively (the third intron in the gapC gene is unique for just one strain). Conventional introns were present at three positions: two in the tubB gene (at one position conventional/intermediate introns were also found) and one in the gapC gene. Nonconventional introns are present at ten positions: two in the tubB gene (at one position intermediate/nonconventional introns were also found), six in hsp90 (at four positions intermediate/nonconventional introns were also found), and two in the gapC gene. Conclusions Sequence and RNA secondary structure analyses of nonconventional introns confirmed that their most strongly conserved elements are base pairing nucleotides at positions +4, +5 and +6/ -8, −7 and −6 (in most introns CAG/CTG nucleotides were observed). It was also confirmed that the presence of the 5' GT/C end in intermediate/nonconventional introns is not the result of kinship with conventional introns, but is due to evolutionary pressure to preserve the purine at the 5' end. However, an example of a nonconventional intron with GC-AG ends was shown, suggesting the possibility of intron type conversion between nonconventional and conventional. Furthermore, an analysis of conventional introns revealed that the ability to form a stable RNA secondary structure by some introns is probably not a result of their relationship with nonconventional introns. It was also shown that acquisition of new nonconventional introns is an ongoing process and can be observed at the level of a single species. In the recently acquired intron in the gapC gene an extended direct repeats at the intron-exon junctions are present, suggesting that double-strand break repair process could be the source of new nonconventional introns. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0620-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Milanowski
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Natalia Gumińska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland. .,Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
| | - Takao Ishikawa
- Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Bożena Zakryś
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
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35
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Łukomska-Kowalczyk M, Karnkowska A, Milanowski R, Łach Ł, Zakryś B. Delimiting species in the Phacus longicauda complex (Euglenida) through morphological and molecular analyses. J Phycol 2015; 51:1147-1157. [PMID: 26987009 DOI: 10.1111/jpy.12352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2015] [Accepted: 08/14/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Although Phacus longicauda is the type species of the genus Phacus and one of the most common species among autotrophic euglenids, its correct identification is nearly impossible. Over 30 morphologically similar taxa appear in the literature, but there are no good diagnostic features to distinguish them. Using environmental sampling and whole genome amplification, we delimited species within the Phacus longicauda complex. Morphological and molecular characters were analyzed for 36 strains isolated from environmental samples (mainly from Poland). DNA was obtained from a small number of cells (20-30) isolated with a micropipette from every sample (i.e., without setting up laboratory cultures), and phylogenetic analyses were based on variation in nSSU rDNA. Apart from Phacus longicauda, three other species (Phacus circumflexus, Phacus helikoides, and Phacus tortus) were distinguished. Phacus cordata comb. nov. Zakryś et M. Łukomska and Phacus rotunda comb. nov. Zakryś et M. Łukomska had their taxonomic ranks changed and two species new to science, Phacus cristatus sp. nov. Zakryś et M. Łukomska and Phacus crassus sp. nov. Zakryś et M. Łukomska, were described. For all verified species, diagnostic descriptions were amended and epitypes designated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maja Łukomska-Kowalczyk
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, PL-00-478, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, PL-00-478, Poland
| | - Rafał Milanowski
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, PL-00-478, Poland
| | - Łukasz Łach
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, PL-00-478, Poland
| | - Bożena Zakryś
- Department of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Al. Ujazdowskie 4, Warszawa, PL-00-478, Poland
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36
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Karnkowska A, Bennett MS, Watza D, Kim JI, Zakryś B, Triemer RE. Phylogenetic Relationships and Morphological Character Evolution of Photosynthetic Euglenids (Excavata) Inferred from Taxon-rich Analyses of Five Genes. J Eukaryot Microbiol 2014; 62:362-73. [DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2014] [Revised: 10/06/2014] [Accepted: 10/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Plant Systematics and Geography; Faculty of Biology; University of Warsaw; Warsaw Poland
- Department of Parasitology; Faculty of Science; Charles University in Prague; Prague Czech Republic
| | - Matthew S. Bennett
- Department of Plant Biology; Michigan State University; East Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Donovan Watza
- Department of Plant Biology; Michigan State University; East Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Jong Im Kim
- Department of Biology; Chungnam National University; Daejeon Korea
| | - Bożena Zakryś
- Department of Plant Systematics and Geography; Faculty of Biology; University of Warsaw; Warsaw Poland
| | - Richard E. Triemer
- Department of Plant Biology; Michigan State University; East Lansing Michigan USA
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37
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Bukowska A, Bielczyńska A, Karnkowska A, Chróst RJ, Jasser I. Molecular (PCR-DGGE) versus morphological approach: analysis of taxonomic composition of potentially toxic cyanobacteria in freshwater lakes. Aquat Biosyst 2014; 10:2. [PMID: 24517495 PMCID: PMC3925352 DOI: 10.1186/2046-9063-10-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/25/2013] [Accepted: 01/29/2014] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The microscopic Utermöhl method is commonly used for the recognition of the presence and taxonomic composition of potentially toxic cyanobacteria and is especially useful for monitoring reservoirs used as drinking water, recreation and fishery resources. However, this method is time-consuming and does not allow potentially toxic and nontoxic cyanobacterial strains to be distinguished. We have developed a method based on denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of the marker gene ITS and the mcy-gene cluster, and DNA sequencing. We have attempted to calibrate the DGGE-method with a microscopic procedure, using water samples taken in 2011 from four lakes of the Great Mazurian Lakes system. RESULTS Results showed that the classic microscopic method was much more precise and allowed the classification of the majority of cyanobacterial taxa to the species or genus. Using the molecular approach, most of the sequences could only be assigned to a genus or family. The results of DGGE and microscopic analyses overlapped in the detection of the filamentous cyanobacteria. For coccoid cyanobacteria, we only found two taxa using the molecular method, which represented 17% of the total taxa identified using microscopic observations. The DGGE method allowed the identification of two genera of cyanobacteria (Planktothrix and Microcystis) in the studied samples, which have the potential ability to produce toxins from the microcystins group. CONCLUSIONS The results confirmed that the molecular approach is useful for the rapid detection and taxonomic distinction of potentially toxic cyanobacteria in lake-water samples, also in very diverse cyanobacterial communities. Such rapid detection is unattainable by other methods. However, with still limited nucleotide sequences deposited in the public databases, this method is currently not sufficient to evaluate the entire taxonomic composition of cyanobacteria in lakes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aleksandra Bukowska
- Microbial Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Aleksandra Bielczyńska
- Microbial Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anna Karnkowska
- Department of Systematics and Plant Geography, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, Aleje Ujazdowskie 4, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Ryszard J Chróst
- Microbial Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Iwona Jasser
- Microbial Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology, Institute of Botany, University of Warsaw, ul. Miecznikowa 1, Warsaw, Poland
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Abstract
The nuclear genomes of euglenids contain three types of introns: conventional spliceosomal introns, nonconventional introns for which a splicing mechanism is unknown (variable noncanonical borders, RNA secondary structure bringing together intron ends), and so-called intermediate introns, which combine features of conventional and nonconventional introns. Analysis of two genes, tubA and tubB, from 20 species of euglenids reveals contrasting distribution patterns of conventional and nonconventional introns--positions of conventional introns are conserved, whereas those of the nonconventional ones are unique to individual species or small groups of closely related taxa. Moreover, in the group of phototrophic euglenids, 11 events of conventional intron loss versus 15 events of nonconventional intron gain were identified. A comparison of all nonconventional intron sequences highlighted the most conserved elements in their sequence and secondary structure. Our results led us to put forward two hypotheses. 1) The first one posits that mutational changes in intron sequence could lead to a change in their excision mechanism--intermediate introns would then be a transitional form between the conventional and nonconventional introns. 2) The second hypothesis concerns the origin of nonconventional introns--because of the presence of inverted repeats near their ends, insertion of MITE-like transposon elements is proposed as a possible source of new introns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rafał Milanowski
- Department of Plant Systematics and Geography, Institute of Botany, Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
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