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Pánek T, Barcytė D, Treitli SC, Záhonová K, Sokol M, Ševčíková T, Zadrobílková E, Jaške K, Yubuki N, Čepička I, Eliáš M. A new lineage of non-photosynthetic green algae with extreme organellar genomes. BMC Biol 2022; 20:66. [PMID: 35296310 PMCID: PMC8928634 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-022-01263-w] [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] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The plastid genomes of the green algal order Chlamydomonadales tend to expand their non-coding regions, but this phenomenon is poorly understood. Here we shed new light on organellar genome evolution in Chlamydomonadales by studying a previously unknown non-photosynthetic lineage. We established cultures of two new Polytoma-like flagellates, defined their basic characteristics and phylogenetic position, and obtained complete organellar genome sequences and a transcriptome assembly for one of them. Results We discovered a novel deeply diverged chlamydomonadalean lineage that has no close photosynthetic relatives and represents an independent case of photosynthesis loss. To accommodate these organisms, we establish the new genus Leontynka, with two species (L. pallida and L. elongata) distinguishable through both their morphological and molecular characteristics. Notable features of the colourless plastid of L. pallida deduced from the plastid genome (plastome) sequence and transcriptome assembly include the retention of ATP synthase, thylakoid-associated proteins, the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway, and a plastoquinone-based electron transport chain, the latter two modules having an obvious functional link to the eyespot present in Leontynka. Most strikingly, the ~362 kbp plastome of L. pallida is by far the largest among the non-photosynthetic eukaryotes investigated to date due to an extreme proliferation of sequence repeats. These repeats are also present in coding sequences, with one repeat type found in the exons of 11 out of 34 protein-coding genes, with up to 36 copies per gene, thus affecting the encoded proteins. The mitochondrial genome of L. pallida is likewise exceptionally large, with its >104 kbp surpassed only by the mitogenome of Haematococcus lacustris among all members of Chlamydomonadales hitherto studied. It is also bloated with repeats, though entirely different from those in the L. pallida plastome, which contrasts with the situation in H. lacustris where both the organellar genomes have accumulated related repeats. Furthermore, the L. pallida mitogenome exhibits an extremely high GC content in both coding and non-coding regions and, strikingly, a high number of predicted G-quadruplexes. Conclusions With its unprecedented combination of plastid and mitochondrial genome characteristics, Leontynka pushes the frontiers of organellar genome diversity and is an interesting model for studying organellar genome evolution. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12915-022-01263-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomáš Pánek
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic.,Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Dovilė Barcytė
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Sebastian C Treitli
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, BIOCEV, 252 42, Vestec, Czech Republic
| | - Kristína Záhonová
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Sokol
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Tereza Ševčíková
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Eliška Zadrobílková
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Karin Jaške
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic
| | - Naoji Yubuki
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic.,Bioimaging Facility, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada
| | - Ivan Čepička
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 43, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Marek Eliáš
- Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Science, University of Ostrava, 701 00, Ostrava, Czech Republic.
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