Abstract
Plastids are the descendents of once free-living cyanobacterial endosymbionts and are generally believed to have evolved only once during eukaryotic evolution, in a common ancestor shared by red, green, and glaucophyte algae. On multiple occasions, subsequent to this landmark event, plastids have moved horizontally across the eukaryotic tree by “secondary” endosymbiosis, a process in which a primary plastid-bearing alga becomes a permanent fixture inside an unrelated heterotrophic eukaryote. This chapter provides an overview of the diversity of secondary plastid-containing organisms, with special emphasis on those harboring plastids of red algal ancestry. The evolutionary “footprint” of secondary endosymbionts on the nuclear genomes of their hosts is discussed.
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Research on organelle evolution in the Archibald Laboratory is supported by operating grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
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Hopkins, J.F., Archibald, J.M. (2010). Plastid Evolution and the Nuclear Genomic “Footprint” of Red and Green Algal Endosymbionts. In: Seckbach, J., Chapman, D. (eds) Red Algae in the Genomic Age. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3795-4_10
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