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Predatory colponemids are the sister group to all other alveolates

Predatory colponemids are the sister group to all other alveolates
Predatory colponemids are the sister group to all other alveolates
Alveolates are a major supergroup of eukaryotes encompassing more than ten thousand free-living and parasitic species, including medically, ecologically, and economically important apicomplexans, dinoflagellates, and ciliates. These three groups are among the most widespread eukaryotes on Earth, and their environmental success can be linked to unique innovations that emerged early in each group. Understanding the emergence of these well-studied and diverse groups and their innovations has relied heavily on the discovery and characterization of early-branching relatives, which allow ancestral states to be inferred with much greater confidence. Here we report the phylogenomic analyses of 313 eukaryote protein-coding genes from transcriptomes of three members of one such group, the colponemids (Colponemidia), which support their monophyly and position as the sister lineage to all other known alveolates. Colponemid-related sequences from environmental surveys and our microscopical observations show that colponemids are not common in nature, but they are diverse and widespread in freshwater habitats around the world. Studied colponemids possess two types of extrusive organelles (trichocysts or toxicysts) for active hunting of other unicellular eukaryotes and potentially play an important role in microbial food webs. Colponemids have generally plesiomorphic morphology and illustrate the ancestral state of Alveolata. We further discuss their importance in understanding the evolution of alveolates and the origin of myzocytosis and plastids.
1055-7903
Tikhonenkov, Denis V.
6afdf089-db67-4faf-b708-326bebbfa5bb
Strassert, Jürgen F.H.
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Janouškovec, Jan
fbaa4a5d-872e-465b-b2c3-bb35df455cc6
Mylnikov, Alexander P.
ba6dced3-1dcf-4879-aca5-36782fceee35
Aleoshin, Vladimir V.
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Burki, Fabien
b529f79c-4fab-4be7-a7a7-495d22b64c60
Keeling, Patrick J.
fd51c2ef-1daa-442d-b186-71001aa7ca7d
Tikhonenkov, Denis V.
6afdf089-db67-4faf-b708-326bebbfa5bb
Strassert, Jürgen F.H.
6251f6f2-bd3d-46c7-b666-82de3f04474e
Janouškovec, Jan
fbaa4a5d-872e-465b-b2c3-bb35df455cc6
Mylnikov, Alexander P.
ba6dced3-1dcf-4879-aca5-36782fceee35
Aleoshin, Vladimir V.
96f45de0-b518-46fc-882f-c3f15ddb629a
Burki, Fabien
b529f79c-4fab-4be7-a7a7-495d22b64c60
Keeling, Patrick J.
fd51c2ef-1daa-442d-b186-71001aa7ca7d

Tikhonenkov, Denis V., Strassert, Jürgen F.H., Janouškovec, Jan, Mylnikov, Alexander P., Aleoshin, Vladimir V., Burki, Fabien and Keeling, Patrick J. (2020) Predatory colponemids are the sister group to all other alveolates. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 149. (doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2020.106839).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Alveolates are a major supergroup of eukaryotes encompassing more than ten thousand free-living and parasitic species, including medically, ecologically, and economically important apicomplexans, dinoflagellates, and ciliates. These three groups are among the most widespread eukaryotes on Earth, and their environmental success can be linked to unique innovations that emerged early in each group. Understanding the emergence of these well-studied and diverse groups and their innovations has relied heavily on the discovery and characterization of early-branching relatives, which allow ancestral states to be inferred with much greater confidence. Here we report the phylogenomic analyses of 313 eukaryote protein-coding genes from transcriptomes of three members of one such group, the colponemids (Colponemidia), which support their monophyly and position as the sister lineage to all other known alveolates. Colponemid-related sequences from environmental surveys and our microscopical observations show that colponemids are not common in nature, but they are diverse and widespread in freshwater habitats around the world. Studied colponemids possess two types of extrusive organelles (trichocysts or toxicysts) for active hunting of other unicellular eukaryotes and potentially play an important role in microbial food webs. Colponemids have generally plesiomorphic morphology and illustrate the ancestral state of Alveolata. We further discuss their importance in understanding the evolution of alveolates and the origin of myzocytosis and plastids.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 9 April 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 21 April 2020
Published date: 1 August 2020
Additional Information: © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 467588
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/467588
ISSN: 1055-7903
PURE UUID: ab8d2fce-a297-4509-a79f-183a6626c502
ORCID for Jan Janouškovec: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-6547-749X

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Date deposited: 14 Jul 2022 17:12
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:11

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Contributors

Author: Denis V. Tikhonenkov
Author: Jürgen F.H. Strassert
Author: Jan Janouškovec ORCID iD
Author: Alexander P. Mylnikov
Author: Vladimir V. Aleoshin
Author: Fabien Burki
Author: Patrick J. Keeling

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