A photosynthetic alveolate closely related to apicomplexan parasites

Robert B. Moore, Miroslav Oborník, Jan Janouškovec, Tomáš Chrudimský, Marie Vancová, David H. Green, Simon W. Wright, Noel W. Davies, Christopher J. S. Bolch, Kirsten Heimann, Jan Šlapeta, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, John M. Logsdon and Dee A. Carter ()
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Robert B. Moore: School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Miroslav Oborník: Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology, and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Jan Janouškovec: Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology, and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Tomáš Chrudimský: Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology, and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
Marie Vancová: Biology Centre of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Institute of Parasitology, and University of South Bohemia, Faculty of Science, Branišovská 31, 37005 České Budějovice, Czech Republic
David H. Green: Scottish Association for Marine Science, Dunstaffnage Marine Laboratory, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK
Simon W. Wright: Kingston, Tasmania 7050, Australia
Noel W. Davies: Central Science Laboratory, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia
Christopher J. S. Bolch: School of Aquaculture, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Tasmania 7250, Australia
Kirsten Heimann: School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia
Jan Šlapeta: Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg: Centre for Marine Studies, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
John M. Logsdon: Roy J. Carver Center for Comparative Genomics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1324, USA
Dee A. Carter: School of Molecular and Microbial Biosciences, University of Sydney, Darlington, New South Wales 2006, Australia

Nature, 2008, vol. 451, issue 7181, 959-963

Abstract: Abstract Many parasitic Apicomplexa, such as Plasmodium falciparum, contain an unpigmented chloroplast remnant termed the apicoplast, which is a target for malaria treatment. However, no close relative of apicomplexans with a functional photosynthetic plastid has yet been described. Here we describe a newly cultured organism that has ultrastructural features typical for alveolates, is phylogenetically related to apicomplexans, and contains a photosynthetic plastid. The plastid is surrounded by four membranes, is pigmented by chlorophyll a, and uses the codon UGA to encode tryptophan in the psbA gene. This genetic feature has been found only in coccidian apicoplasts and various mitochondria. The UGA-Trp codon and phylogenies of plastid and nuclear ribosomal RNA genes indicate that the organism is the closest known photosynthetic relative to apicomplexan parasites and that its plastid shares an origin with the apicoplasts. The discovery of this organism provides a powerful model with which to study the evolution of parasitism in Apicomplexa.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature06635

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