A5074341866- Protist diversity and phylogeny
- Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
- Photosynthetic Processes and Mechanisms
- Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Antifungal resistance and susceptibility
- Legionella and Acanthamoeba research
- Algal biology and biofuel production
- Medical and Biological Ozone Research
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
2019-2024
Brooklyn College
2016
City University of New York
2016
Abstract Eukaryotic photosynthetic organelles, plastids, are the powerhouses of many aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. The canonical plastid in algae plants originated >1 Ga therefore offers limited insights into initial stages organelle evolution. To address this issue, we focus here on amoeba Paulinella micropora strain KR01 (hereafter, KR01) that underwent a more recent (∼124 Ma) primary endosymbiosis, resulting termed chromatophore. Analysis genomic transcriptomic data resulted...
The primary plastid endosymbiosis (∼124 Mya) that occurred in the heterotrophic amoeba lineage, Paulinella, is at an earlier stage of evolution than Archaeplastida, and provides excellent model for studying organelle integration. Using genomic data from photosynthetic we identified a plausible mechanism host control endosymbiont (termed chromatophore) biosynthetic pathways functions. Specifically, random gene loss chromatophore compensation by nuclear-encoded copies enables key through...
Significance Primary endosymbiosis allowed the evolution of complex life on Earth. In this process, a prokaryote was engulfed and retained in cytoplasm another microbe, where it developed into new organelle (mitochondria plastids). During evolution, genes from endosymbiont are transferred to host nuclear genome, they must become active despite differences genetic nature “partner” organisms. Here, we show that amoeba Paulinella micropora , which harbors nascent photosynthetic organelle,...
Paulinella represents the only known case of an independent primary plastid endosymbiosis, outside Archaeplastida, that occurred c. 120 (million years ago) Ma. These photoautotrophs grow very slowly in replete culture medium with a doubling time 6-7 d at optimal low light, and are highly sensitive to photodamage under moderate light levels. We used genomic biophysical methods investigate extreme slow growth rate sensitivity Paulinella, which key photosymbiont integration. All photosystem II...
Plastid primary endosymbiosis has occurred twice, once in the Archaeplastida ancestor and Paulinella (Rhizaria) lineage. Both events precipitated massive evolutionary changes, including recruitment activation of genes that are horizontally acquired (HGT) redeployment existing pathways novel contexts. Here we address latter aspect micropora KR01 (hereafter, KR01) independently evolved spliced leader (SL) trans-splicing (SLTS) nuclear-derived transcripts. We investigated role this process gene...
Abstract The photosynthetic amoeba, Paulinella provides a recent (ca. 120 Mya) example of primary plastid endosymbiosis. Given the extensive data demonstrating host lineage‐driven endosymbiont integration, we analysed nuclear genome and transcriptome to investigate mechanisms that may have evolved in micropora KR01 (hereinafter, KR01) maintain function novel organelle, chromatophore. chromatophore is α‐cyanobacterial provenance has undergone massive gene loss due Muller's ratchet, but still...
Abstract The widespread algal and plant (Archaeplastida) plastid originated >1 billion years ago, therefore relatively little can be learned about integration during the initial stages of primary endosymbiosis by studying these highly derived species. Here we focused on a unique model for research, photosynthetic amoeba Paulinella micropora KR01 (Rhizaria) that underwent more recent independent 124 Mya. A total 149 Gbp PacBio 19 Illumina data were used to generate draft assembly comprises...