A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology
Complete plastid loss seems to be very rare among secondarily non-photosynthetic eukaryotes. Leukarachnion sp. PRA-24, an amoeboid colourless protist related to the photosynthetic algal class Synchromophyceae (Ochrophyta), is a candidate for such a case based on a previous investigation by transmiss...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The Royal Society
2024-10-01
|
| Series: | Open Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240022 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850285049031688192 |
|---|---|
| author | Dovilė Barcytė Karin Jaške Tomáš Pánek Tatiana Yurchenko Tereza Ševčíková Anežka Eliášová Marek Eliáš |
| author_facet | Dovilė Barcytė Karin Jaške Tomáš Pánek Tatiana Yurchenko Tereza Ševčíková Anežka Eliášová Marek Eliáš |
| author_sort | Dovilė Barcytė |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Complete plastid loss seems to be very rare among secondarily non-photosynthetic eukaryotes. Leukarachnion sp. PRA-24, an amoeboid colourless protist related to the photosynthetic algal class Synchromophyceae (Ochrophyta), is a candidate for such a case based on a previous investigation by transmission electron microscopy. Here, we characterize this organism in further detail and describe it as Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. et sp. nov., additionally demonstrating it is the first known representative of a broader clade of non-photosynthetic ochrophytes. We recovered its complete plastid genome, exhibiting a reduced gene set similar to plastomes of other non-photosynthetic ochrophytes, yet being even more extreme in sequence divergence. Identification of components of the plastid protein import machinery in the L. plasmidifera transcriptome assembly corroborated that the organism possesses a cryptic plastid organelle. According to our bioinformatic reconstruction, the plastid contains a unique combination of biosynthetic pathways producing haem, a folate precursor and tocotrienols. As another twist to its organellar biology, L. plasmidifera turned out to contain an unusual long insertion in its mitogenome related to a newly discovered mitochondrial plasmid exhibiting unprecedented features in terms of its size and coding capacity. Combined, our work uncovered further striking outcomes of the evolutionary course of semiautonomous organelles in protists. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2b76109e66e94ba1b45efdc07c9d7a4c |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2046-2441 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-2b76109e66e94ba1b45efdc07c9d7a4c2025-08-20T01:47:25ZengThe Royal SocietyOpen Biology2046-24412024-10-01141010.1098/rsob.240022A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biologyDovilė Barcytė0Karin Jaške1Tomáš Pánek2Tatiana Yurchenko3Tereza Ševčíková4Anežka Eliášová5Marek Eliáš6Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicDepartment of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, Chittussiho 10 , Ostrava 710 00, Czech RepublicComplete plastid loss seems to be very rare among secondarily non-photosynthetic eukaryotes. Leukarachnion sp. PRA-24, an amoeboid colourless protist related to the photosynthetic algal class Synchromophyceae (Ochrophyta), is a candidate for such a case based on a previous investigation by transmission electron microscopy. Here, we characterize this organism in further detail and describe it as Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. et sp. nov., additionally demonstrating it is the first known representative of a broader clade of non-photosynthetic ochrophytes. We recovered its complete plastid genome, exhibiting a reduced gene set similar to plastomes of other non-photosynthetic ochrophytes, yet being even more extreme in sequence divergence. Identification of components of the plastid protein import machinery in the L. plasmidifera transcriptome assembly corroborated that the organism possesses a cryptic plastid organelle. According to our bioinformatic reconstruction, the plastid contains a unique combination of biosynthetic pathways producing haem, a folate precursor and tocotrienols. As another twist to its organellar biology, L. plasmidifera turned out to contain an unusual long insertion in its mitogenome related to a newly discovered mitochondrial plasmid exhibiting unprecedented features in terms of its size and coding capacity. Combined, our work uncovered further striking outcomes of the evolutionary course of semiautonomous organelles in protists.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240022Leukarachnionmitochondrial plasmidsnon-photosynthetic plastidplastid evolutionplastid genomestramenopiles |
| spellingShingle | Dovilė Barcytė Karin Jaške Tomáš Pánek Tatiana Yurchenko Tereza Ševčíková Anežka Eliášová Marek Eliáš A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology Open Biology Leukarachnion mitochondrial plasmids non-photosynthetic plastid plastid evolution plastid genome stramenopiles |
| title | A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| title_full | A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| title_fullStr | A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| title_full_unstemmed | A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| title_short | A cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in Leucomyxa plasmidifera gen. and sp. nov. (Ochrophyta) push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| title_sort | cryptic plastid and a novel mitochondrial plasmid in leucomyxa plasmidifera gen and sp nov ochrophyta push the frontiers of organellar biology |
| topic | Leukarachnion mitochondrial plasmids non-photosynthetic plastid plastid evolution plastid genome stramenopiles |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsob.240022 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT dovilebarcyte acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT karinjaske acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT tomaspanek acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT tatianayurchenko acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT terezasevcikova acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT anezkaeliasova acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT marekelias acrypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT dovilebarcyte crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT karinjaske crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT tomaspanek crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT tatianayurchenko crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT terezasevcikova crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT anezkaeliasova crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology AT marekelias crypticplastidandanovelmitochondrialplasmidinleucomyxaplasmidiferagenandspnovochrophytapushthefrontiersoforganellarbiology |