Evolution of the apicoplast and its hosts: from heterotrophy to autotrophy and back again |
| |
Authors: | Oborník Miroslav Janouskovec Jan Chrudimský Tomás Lukes Julius |
| |
Affiliation: | Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology, and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branisovská 31, 37005, Ceské Budejovice, Czech Republic. obornik@paru.cas.cz |
| |
Abstract: | The photosynthetic origin of apicomplexan parasites was proposed upon the discovery of a reduced non-photosynthetic plastid termed the apicoplast in their cells. Although it is clear that the apicoplast has evolved through a secondary endosymbiosis, its particular origin within the red or green plastid lineage remains controversial. The recent discovery of Chromera velia, the closest known photosynthetic relative to apicomplexan parasites, sheds new light on the evolutionary history of alveolate plastids. Here we review our knowledge on the evolutionary history of Apicomplexa and particularly their plastids, with a focus on the pathway by which they evolved from free-living heterotrophs through photoautotrophs to omnipresent obligatory intracellular parasites. New sequences from C. velia (histones H2A, H2B; GAPDH, TufA) and phylogenetic analyses are also presented and discussed here. |
| |
Keywords: | Apicoplast Apicomplexa Evolution Chromera velia GAPDH |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect PubMed 等数据库收录! |
|