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The Evolution of Algal Chloroplasts

  • Chapter
Origins of Plastids

Abstract

The algae are not a natural assemblage of organisms. Rather they are a diverse group of protists and fungi which have acquired chloroplasts in various ways, in some groups directly from symbiotic photosynthetic prokaryotes and in others from symbiotic eukaryotic algae. The new techniques for rapidly sequencing ribosomal RNA are producing evolutionary trees which are giving us a clearer understanding of the true relationship between different eukaryotes. In Fig1 I have drawn an evolutionary tree based on the sequences of the small subunit ribosomal RNA of a number of eukaryotes. The most ancient eukaryotes whose ribosomal RNA has been sequenced to date are Giardia lamblia, a parasitic diplomonad, and Vairimorpha necatrix, a microsporidian. Neither of these protists has mitochondria, and it is possible that these ancient eukaryotes evolved prior to the acquisition of mitochondria. Also ancient are the trypanosomes and Euglena. Somewhat later Dictyostelium evolved, but then came an explosive radiation of many protist groups, fungi, plants and animals. In this tree, I have put in boldface lettering those groups which contain species with chloroplasts. A glance at the tree shows that the algae are polyphyletic. Euglenoids evolved very early and are related to trypanosomes.

*Reprinted, by kind permission, from Experimental Phycology, vol. 1. Cell Walls and Surfaces, Reproduction, Photosynthesis. W. Wiessner, D.G. Robinson, R.C. Starr, eds. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. pp. 145–157. 1990.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 1B1, Canada

    Sarah P. Gibbs

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  1. Sarah P. Gibbs
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biology Research Division, 0202 Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0202, USA

    Ralph A. Lewin

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Gibbs, S.P. (1992). The Evolution of Algal Chloroplasts. In: Lewin, R.A. (eds) Origins of Plastids. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2818-0_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2818-0_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-6218-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2818-0

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