This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data All Versions of this Article: 137/2/567    most recent pp.104.053991v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Web of Science (24) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Misumi, O. Articles by Kuroiwa, T. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Misumi, O. Articles by Kuroiwa, T. Agricola Articles by Misumi, O. Articles by Kuroiwa, T.

Cyanidioschyzon merolae Genome. A Tool for Facilitating Comparable Studies on Organelle Biogenesis in Photosynthetic Eukaryotes^1,[w]

Laboratory of Cell Biology and Frontier Project Life's Adaptation Strategies of Environmental Changes, Department of Life Science, College of Science, Rikkyo (St. Paul's) University, Toshima, Tokyo 171–8501, Japan (O.M., S.M., T.M., Y.Y., H.K., T.K.); and Department of Biomedical Chemistry, Graduate School of Medicine (M.M.), and Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science (H.N., K.N., F.Y.), University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113–0033, Japan (M.M.)

The ultrasmall unicellular red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae lives in the extreme environment of acidic hot springs and is thought to retain primitive features of cellular and genome organization. We determined the 16.5-Mb nuclear genome sequence of C. merolae 10D as the first complete algal genome. BLASTs and annotation results showed that C. merolae has a mixed gene repertoire of plants and animals, also implying a relationship with prokaryotes, although its photosynthetic components were comparable to other phototrophs. The unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has been used as a model system for molecular biology research on, for example, photosynthesis, motility, and sexual reproduction. Though both algae are unicellular, the genome size, number of organelles, and surface structures are remarkably different. Here, we report the characteristics of double membrane- and single membrane-bound organelles and their related genes in C. merolae and conduct comparative analyses of predicted protein sequences encoded by the genomes of C. merolae and C. reinhardtii. We examine the predicted proteins of both algae by reciprocal BLASTP analysis, KOG assignment, and gene annotation. The results suggest that most core biological functions are carried out by orthologous proteins that occur in comparable numbers. Although the fundamental gene organizations resembled each other, the genes for organization of chromatin, cytoskeletal components, and flagellar movement remarkably increased in C. reinhardtii. Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggested that the tubulin is close to plant tubulin rather than that of animals and fungi. These results reflect the increase in genome size, the acquisition of complicated cellular structures, and kinematic devices in C. reinhardtii.

² Present address: Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823.

^[w] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

Article, publication date, and citation information can be found at www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.104.053991.

^* Corresponding author; e-mail tsune{at}rikkyo.ne.jp; fax 81–3–3985–4592.

Received September 30, 2004; returned for revision December 16, 2004; accepted December 17, 2004.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				E. J. Pritham Transposable Elements and Factors Influencing their Success in Eukaryotes J. Hered., September 1, 2009; 100(5): 648 - 655. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Fujiwara, O. Misumi, K. Tashiro, Y. Yoshida, K. Nishida, F. Yagisawa, S. Imamura, M. Yoshida, T. Mori, K. Tanaka, et al. Periodic Gene Expression Patterns during the Highly Synchronized Cell Nucleus and Organelle Division Cycles in the Unicellular Red Alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae DNA Res, February 1, 2009; 16(1): 59 - 72. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. D. Lopez, M. Alm Rosenblad, and T. Samuelsson Computational screen for spliceosomal RNA genes aids in defining the phylogenetic distribution of major and minor spliceosomal components Nucleic Acids Res., May 1, 2008; 36(9): 3001 - 3010. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Muralla, E. Chen, C. Sweeney, J. A. Gray, A. Dickerman, B. J. Nikolau, and D. Meinke A Bifunctional Locus (BIO3-BIO1) Required for Biotin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis Plant Physiology, January 1, 2008; 146(1): 60 - 73. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Miura, Y. Kato, R. Matsushima, V. Albrecht, S. Laalami, and W. Sakamoto The Balance between Protein Synthesis and Degradation in Chloroplasts Determines Leaf Variegation in Arabidopsis yellow variegated Mutants PLANT CELL, April 1, 2007; 19(4): 1313 - 1328. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. G. Ball Eukaryotic Microalgae Genomics. The Essence of Being a Plant Plant Physiology, February 1, 2005; 137(2): 397 - 398. [Full Text] [PDF]