Evolutionary dynamics of chloroplast genomes in low light: A case study of the endolithic green alga ostreobium quekettii

VR Marcelino; MCM Cremen; CJ Jackson; AAW Larkum; H Verbruggen

Journal article

Evolutionary dynamics of chloroplast genomes in low light: A case study of the endolithic green alga ostreobium quekettii

VR Marcelino, MCM Cremen, CJ Jackson, AAW Larkum, H Verbruggen

Genome Biology and Evolution | OXFORD UNIV PRESS | Published : 2016

DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evw206

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Abstract

Some photosynthetic organisms live in extremely low light environments. Light limitation is associated with selective forces as well as reduced exposure tomutagens, and over evolutionary timescales it can leave a footprint on species' genomes. Here, we present the chloroplast genomes of four green algae (Bryopsidales, Ulvophyceae), including the endolithic (limestone-boring) alga Ostreobium quekettii, which is a low light specialist. We use phylogenetic models and comparative genomic tools to investigate whether the chloroplast genome of Ostreobium corresponds to our expectations of how low light would affect genome evolution. Ostreobium has thesmallest andmostgene-dense chloroplastgenome am..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Vanessa Rossetto Marcelino Author

Heroen Verbruggen Author

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Awarded by Australian Biological Resources Study

Awarded by Australian Research Council

Funding Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Australian Biological Resources Study (RFL213-08), the Australian Research Council (FT110100585, DP150100705), the Holsworth Wildlife Research Endowment and the Sapere Aude Advanced grant from the Danish Council for Independent Research for the Natural Sciences. The Sophie Ducker Postgraduate Scholarship supported the publication fee. V.R.M. and M.C.M.C. receive a University of Melbourne scholarship. The Caulerpa sample was collected under the DEC Flora permit 10006072. We thank John West for providing the Derbesia strain and Claude Payri for facilitating field work in PNG. We thank four anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. We are thankful to Karolina Fucikova, John Raven and the members of the Verbruggen lab for valuable insights during the execution of this study and preparation of the article.