2025 Hyper Recent •CC0 1.0 Universal

This work is dedicated to the public domain. No rights reserved.

Access Preprint From Server
April 1st, 2025
Version: 1
DOE Joint Genome Institute
evolutionary biology
biorxiv

Global Metagenomics Reveals Plastid Diversity and Unexplored Algal Lineages

Shrestha, B.Open in Google Scholar•Romero, M. F.Open in Google Scholar•Villada, J. C.Open in Google Scholar•Plastid MAG Consortium,Open in Google Scholar•Blaby-Haas, C. E.Open in Google Scholar•Schulz, F.Open in Google Scholar

Photosynthetic organelles in eukaryotes originated through primary endosymbiosis with a cyanobacterium, an event that profoundly shaped the evolutionary landscape of the eukaryotic tree of life. Primary plastids in Archaeplastida, especially in cultivable plants and algae, contribute most to known plastid diversity. Secondary and higher-order endosymbiosis, involving eukaryotic hosts and algal endosymbionts, further spread photosynthesis among protists within the CASH lineages (Cryptophyta, Alveolata, Stramenopila, and Haptophyta). Despite various hypotheses explaining secondary plastid evolution and distribution, empirical support remains limited. Here, we employ cultivation-independent global metagenomics to expand plastid diversity and investigate plastid origins. We captured 1,027 plastid sequences, including 300 novel sequences belonging to previously unsequenced plastids and representing yet-to-be described microeukaryotes. This includes a new lineage that offers insights into plastid evolution in haptophytes and cryptophytes. Our results confirm that Archaeplastida plastids originated from an early-branching cyanobacterial lineage closely related to Gloeomargaritales and identify the closest extant relative of Paulinella plastids. Additionally, our findings suggest two independent origins of secondary red algal plastids, contributing to plastid diversity in CASH lineages and challenging the prevailing model of single secondary plastid origin. Our study highlights the importance of metagenomic data in uncovering biological diversity and advancing understanding of plastid relationships across photosynthetic eukaryotes.

Similar Papers

biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Characterisation of the historic demographic decline of the British European polecat population
The European polecat (Mustela putorius) has a widespread distribution across many countries of mainland Europe but is documented to be declining within these ranges. In Britain, direct persecution led to a severe decline of the polecat population during the 19th century. Unlike European mainland populations, it is now recovering across much of its former British range. The genomic and conservation...
Shaw, R. L.
•
MacPherson, J.
•
Kitchener, A. C.
•
Etherington, G. J.
•
Haerty, W. W.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Long-lasting coexistence of multiple asexual lineages alongside their sexual counterparts in a fungal plant pathogen
Sexual to asexual transition is described as a process whereby asexual lineages emerge within sexual species. This phenomenon gives rise to many questions about the maintenance of sexual reproduction and the evolution of asexuality in these organisms. The poplar rust fungus Melampsora larici-populina has a complex life cycle, which is typical of rust fungi (Pucciniales). It alternates between a se...
Abdalrahem, A.
•
Andrieux, A.
•
Becheler, R.
•
Duplessis, S.
...•
Halkett, F.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Evolution into chaos - implications of the trade-off between transmissibility and immune evasion
Predicting viral evolution presents a significant challenge and is a critical public health priority. In response to this challenge, we develop a novel model for viral evolution that considers a trade-off between immunity evasion and transmissibility. The model selects for a new strain with the highest invasion fitness, taking into account this trade-off. When the dominant strain of the pathogen i...
Sayyar, G.
•
Garab, A.
•
Rost, G.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Molecular phylogeny of the SELMA translocation machinery recounts the evolution of complex photosynthetic eukaryotes.
Photosynthetic eukaryotes and their relatives are the result of an intricate evolutionary history involving a series of plastid acquisitions through endosymbiosis, multiple reversions to heterotrophy, and sometimes total plastid losses. Among these events, one of the most debated is the emergence and diversification of the CASH lineages (Cryptophyta, Alveolata, Stramenopiles and Haptophyta). Altho...
Ponce-Toledo, R. I.
•
Moreira, D.
•
Lopez-Garcia, P.
•
Deschamps, P.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Transcriptomic landscape reveals immunity related trade-offs in an invertebrate-fungal host-parasite system
1. By exploiting host resources, parasites impose significant fitness costs onto their hosts, thereby affecting their population dynamics. Hosts, in turn, employ a series of mechanism to resist or tolerate parasitic infections. Unlike vertebrates, which possess a sophisticated immune system, invertebrates rely solely on innate immunity to combat pathogens. Despite over 50 years of research, the mo...
Paraskevopoulou, S.
•
Gattis, S.
•
Ben-Ami, F.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Higher-order equivalence of Lotka-Volterra and replicator dynamics
The Lotka-Volterra equations are foundational in ecology, modeling logistic growth in isolated populations and revealing complex dynamics in interacting species. These equations are mathematically equivalent to the replicator dynamics of evolutionary games. This mathematical equivalence, established by Hofbauer and Sigmund, allows dynamic patterns in ecology to be mirrored in evolutionary games an...
Gokhale, C. S.
•
Traulsen, A.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Adaptive challenges of past and future invasion of Drosophila suzukii: insights from novel genomic resources and statistical methods combining individual and pool sequencing data
Climate change and globalization are accelerating biological invasions, making it crucial to understand how species adapt in new environments to improve management strategies. Genomic data can provide valuable insights into adaptation through Genotype-Environment Association (GEA) studies, which identify genes and biological processes tied to invasion success, and through the geometric Genomic Off...
Camus, L.
•
Rode, N. O.
•
Serga, S.
•
Loiseau, A.
...•
Gautier, M.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Robust Phylogenetics
We present a robust phylogenetic inference method, called the trimmed log-likelihood method, which effectively identifies fast-evolving, saturated, or erroneous sites in both simulated and empirical multiple sequence alignments. This method avoids circularity by dynamically identifying and removing sites without relying on an initial tree, allowing the specific sites removed to change as tree topo...
Liu, Q.
•
Minh, B. Q.
•
Lanfear, R.
•
Charleston, M. A.
...•
Holland, B. R.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Correlated evolution of multiple traits gives butterflies a false head
Many butterflies possess a combination of characters at the posterior hindwing end, superficially resembling their head. This 'false head' has been hypothesised to deflect predator attacks towards the false head area. A clear understanding of the diversity and evolution of false head traits across butterflies is lacking. Here, we tested whether false head traits evolved from simple to complex in o...
Yumnam, T.
•
Kodandaramaiah, U.
biorxiv
Wed Apr 02 2025
Mating signal energy gradient mediates gene flow in the early stage of avian speciation
The grey zones of speciation harbor hybridizing species that experience the tension of incompatibility and gene flow. Mating signals for mate choice or competition in the hybridizing species can mediate heterospecific mating, thus predicting the extent and direction of gene flow in the entangled evolutionary trajectories. Some mating signals are diffusive, facilitating gene flow across species bou...
Eddo, D. D.
•
Hodur, Z. J.
•
Wang, S.