Retention of transcriptionally active cryptophyte nuclei by the ciliate Myrionecta rubra

Matthew D. Johnson (), David Oldach, Charles F. Delwiche and Diane K. Stoecker
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Matthew D. Johnson: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory
David Oldach: University of Maryland, School of Medicine
Charles F. Delwiche: University of Maryland – College Park
Diane K. Stoecker: University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory

Nature, 2007, vol. 445, issue 7126, 426-428

Abstract: Red tides: the borrowers The 'red-tide' organism Myrionecta rubra has been a curiosity to scientists since a red bloom was spotted in the Pacific during Darwin's voyage on Beagle. As the only truly phototrophic ciliate — using light as its principal source of energy — it was thought to possess a permanent endosymbiont capable of photosynthesis. Not so, according to a new study. M. rubra can steal and temporarily retain a nucleus from a specific prey, the cryptophyte alga Geminigera cryophila. The hijacked nucleus is now shown to retain its function, for 30 days or so, and to be used to regulate stolen chloroplasts and mitochondria. This 'organelle farming' lifestyle dubbed 'karyoklepty' may be a powerful evolutionary strategy for acquiring biochemical potential, and a possible model for chloroplast acquisition by eukaryotes.

Date: 2007
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DOI: 10.1038/nature05496

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