Review paper
Multiple independent losses of photosynthesis in algae
Hirakawa, Yoshihisa
Perspectives in Phycology (2019)
published online: Oct 22, 2019
manuscript accepted: Jul 24, 2019
manuscript revision received: Jul 24, 2019
manuscript revision requested: Jul 19, 2019
manuscript received: Jun 4, 2019
Abstract
Photosynthetic algae are widely spread across the tree of life. They thrive in various environments on the Earth taking advantage of their ability to convert solar power to chemical energy. Nevertheless, a certain number of algae have forfeited their photosynthetic capability, and became heterotrophs, including obligate parasites. Most of the non-photosynthetic algae are believed to harbor colorless plastids. Based on predictions of plastid-localized proteins, colorless plastids are inferred to carry out several metabolic processes, such as carbohydrate metabolism, and fatty acid, isoprenoid, and heme biosynthesis. This review summarizes the current understanding of the evolution, functional diversity, and similarity of non-photosynthetic plastids from disparate lineages.
Keywords
Photosynthesis • carbohydrate metabolism • isoprenoid • tetrapyrrole • heme • iron-sulfur cluster • plastid genome