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Evolution of the Rubisco operon from prokaryotes to algae: Structure and analysis of the rbcS gene of the brown alga Pylaiella littoralis

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Abstract

The rbcS gene coding for the small subunit of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) of the brown alga Pylaiella littoralis is located within the plastid genome and is transcribed as a single polycistronic mRNA with the gene for the large subunit of Rubisco, rbcL. The structure of the Rubisco operon from P. littoralis was determined. Molecular phylogenies for rbcS and rbcL with a wide range of prokaryotes and eukaryotes were constructed which are congruent with recent evidence for polyphyletic plastid origins. Both rbcL and rbcS of the β-purple bacterium Alcaligenes eutrophus clearly cluster with the rhodophyte and chromophyte proteins. The data suggest that the Rubisco operons of red algal and chromophytic plastids derive from β-purple eubacterial antecedents, rather than the cyanobacterial lineage of eubacteria from which other of their genes derive. This implies a lateral transfer of Rubisco genes from β-purple eubacterial ancestors to the cyanobacterial ancestor of rhodophyte and chromophyte plastids.

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Author notes

  1. Nour-Eddine Assali

    Present address: Laboratoire de Biochimie, I.A.V. Hassan II, BP 6202, Rabat, Morocco

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Biologie Moléculaire Végétale, CNRS, URA 57, Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble

    Nour-Eddine Assali

  2. Institut für Genetik, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Postfach 3329, D-3300, Braunschweig, FRG

    William F. Martin

  3. Station Biologique de Roscoff, CNRS UPR 4601, BP 74, 29680, Roscoff, France

    Charles C. Sommerville & Susan Loiseaux-de Goër

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  1. Nour-Eddine Assali
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  2. William F. Martin
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  3. Charles C. Sommerville
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  4. Susan Loiseaux-de Goër
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Assali, NE., Martin, W.F., Sommerville, C.C. et al. Evolution of the Rubisco operon from prokaryotes to algae: Structure and analysis of the rbcS gene of the brown alga Pylaiella littoralis . Plant Mol Biol 17, 853–863 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00037066

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00037066

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