The uptake and conversion of a free-living cyanobacterium into a photosynthetic organelle by the single-celled Archaeplastida ancestor helped transform the biosphere from low to high oxygen. There are two documented, independent cases of plastid primary endosymbiosis. The first is the well-studied instance in Archaeplastida that occurred ca. 1.6 billion years ago, whereas the second occurred 90-140 million years ago, establishing a permanent photosynthetic compartment (the chromatophore) in amoebae in the genus Paulinella. Here, we briefly summarize knowledge about plastid origin in the Archaeplastida and then focus on Paulinella. In particular, we describe features of the Paulinella chromatophore that make it a model for examining earlier events in the evolution of photosynthetic organelles. Our review stresses recently gained insights into the evolution of chromatophore and nuclear encoded DNA sequences in Paulinella, metabolic connectivity between the endosymbiont and cytoplasm, and systems that target proteins into the chromatophore. We also describe future work with Paulinella, and the potential rewards and challenges associated with developing further this model system.

The relative abundance of transcripts encoding proteins involved in inorganic carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCM), detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and photosynthesis in the thermophilic cyanobacterium Synechococcus OS-B' was measured in hot spring microbial mats over two diel cycles, and was coupled with in situ determinations of incoming irradiance and microenvironmental dynamics of O-2 and pH. Fluctuations in pH and O-2 in the mats were largely driven by the diel cycle of solar irradiance, with a pH variation from similar to 7.0 to similar to 9.5, and O-2 levels ranging from anoxia to supersaturation during night and day, respectively. Levels of various transcripts from mat cyanobacteria revealed several patterns that correlated with incident irradiance, O-2 and pH within the mat matrix. Transcript abundances for most genes increased during the morning dark-light transition. Some transcripts remained at a near constant level throughout the light period, whereas others showed an additional increase in abundance as the mat underwent transition from low-to-high light (potentially reflecting changes in O-2 concentration and pH), followed by either a decreased abundance in the early afternoon, or a gradual decline during the early afternoon and into the evening. One specific transcipt, psbA1, was the lowest during mid-day under high irradiance and increased when the light levels declined. We discuss these complex in situ transcriptional patterns with respect to environmental and endogenous cues that might impact and regulate transcription over the diel cycle. The ISME Journal (2011) 5, 317-328; doi:10.1038/ismej.2010.131; published online 26 August 2010

Dinoflagellates in the family Symbiodiniaceae can live freely in ocean waters or form a symbiosis with a variety of cnidarians including corals, sea anemones, and jellyfish. Trophic plasticity of Symbiodiniaceae is critical to its ecological success as it moves between environments. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these trophic shifts in Symbiodiniaceae are still largely unknown. Using Breviolum minutum strain SSB01 (designated SSB01) as a model, we showed that Symbiodiniaceae go through a physiological and transcriptome reprogramming when the alga is grown with the organic nitrogen containing nutrients in hydrolyzed casein, but not with inorganic nutrients. SSB01 grows at a much faster rate and maintains stable photosynthetic efficiency when supplemented with casein amino acids compared to only inorganic nutrients or seawater. These physiological changes are driven by massive transcriptome changes in SSB01 supplemented with casein amino acids. The levels of transcripts encoding proteins involved in altering DNA conformation such as DNA topoisomerases, histones, and chromosome structural components were all significantly changed. Functional enrichment analysis also revealed processes involved in translation, ion transport, generation of second messengers, and phosphorylation. The physiological and molecular changes that underlie in vitro trophic transitions in Symbiodiniaceae can serve as an orthogonal platform to further understand the factors that impact the Symbiodiniaceae lifestyle.

Despite the growing interest to explore untapped microbial gene and protein diversity, no single platform has been able to acquire both gene and protein information from just a few cells. We present a microfluidic system that simultaneously performs on-chip capillary electrophoresis for protein analysis and whole genome amplification (WGA), and we demonstrate this by doing both for the same cohort of cyanobacterial cells. This technology opens avenues for studying protein profiles of precious environmental microbial samples and simultaneously accessing genomic information based on WGA. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Some reef corals form stable, dominant or codominant associations with multiple endosymbiotic dinoflagellate species (family Symbiodiniaceae). Given the immense genetic and physiological diversity within this family, Symbiodiniaceae community composition has the potential to impact the nutritional physiology and fitness of the cnidarian host and all associated symbionts. Here we assessed the impact of the symbiont community composition on the metabolome of the coralMontipora capitatain Kane'ohe Bay, Hawai'i, where different colonies can be dominated by stress-tolerantDurusdinium glynniior stress-sensitiveCladocopiumspp. Based on our existing knowledge of these symbiont taxa, we hypothesised that the metabolite profile ofD. glynnii-dominated corals would be consistent with poorer nutritional support of the host relative to those corals dominated byCladocopiumspp. However, comparative metabolite profiling revealed that the metabolite pools of the host and symbiont were unaffected by differences in the abundance of the two symbionts within the community. The abundance of the individual metabolites was the same in the host and in the endosymbiont regardless of whether the host was populated withD. glynniiorCladocopiumspp. These results suggest that coral-dinoflagellate symbioses have the potential to undergo physiological adjustments over time to accommodate differences in their resident symbionts. Such mechanisms may involve host heterotrophic compensation (increasing the level of nutrition generated by feeding relative to delivery from the algae), dynamic regulation of metabolic pathways when exchange of metabolites between the organisms differs, and/or modification of both the type and quantity of metabolites that are exchanged. We discuss these adjustments and the implications for the physiology and survival of reef corals under changing environmental regimes.

In oligotrophic waters, cnidarian hosts rely on symbiosis with their photosynthetic dinoflagellate partners (family Symbiodiniaceae) to obtain the nutrients they need to grow, reproduce and survive. For this symbiosis to persist, the host must regulate the growth and proliferation of its symbionts. One of the proposed regulatory mechanisms is arrest of the symbiont cell cycle in the G(1) phase, though the cellular mechanisms involved remain unknown. Cell-cycle progression in eukaryotes is controlled by the conserved family of cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs) and their partner cyclins. We identified CDKs and cyclins in different Symbiodiniaceae species and examined their relationship to homologs in other eukaryotes. Cyclin proteins related to eumetazoan cell-cycle-related cyclins A, B, D, G/I and Y, and transcriptional cyclin L, were identified in the Symbiodiniaceae, alongside several alveolate-specific cyclin A/B proteins, and proteins related to protist P/U-type cyclins and apicomplexan cyclins. The largest expansion of Symbiodiniaceae cyclins was in the P/U-type cyclin groups. Proteins related to eumetazoan cell-cycle-related CDKs (CDK1) were identified as well as transcription-related CDKs. The largest expansion of CDK groups was, however, in alveolate-specific groups which comprised 11 distinct CDK groups (CDKA-J) with CDKB being the most widely distributed CDK protein. As a result of its phylogenetic position, conservation across Symbiodiniaceae species, and the presence of the canonical CDK motif, CDKB emerged as a likely candidate for a Saccharomyces cerevisiae Cdc28/Pho85-like homolog in Symbiodiniaceae. Similar to cyclins, two CDK-groups found in Symbiodiniaceae species were solely associated with apicomplexan taxa. A comparison of Breviolum minutum CDK and cyclin gene expression between free-living and symbiotic states showed that several alveolate-specific CDKs and two P/U-type cyclins exhibited altered expression in hospite, suggesting that symbiosis influences the cell cycle of symbionts on a molecular level. These results highlight the divergence of Symbiodiniaceae cell-cycle proteins across species. These results have important implications for host control of the symbiont cell cycle in novel cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbioses.

Insertion sequences (ISs) are simple mobile genetic elements capable of relocating within a genome. Through this transposition activity, they are known to create mutations which are mostly deleterious to the cell, although occasionally they are beneficial. Two closely related isolates of thermophilic Synechococcus species from hot spring microbial mats are known to harbor a large number of diverse ISs. To explore the mechanism of IS acquisition within natural populations and survival in the face of high IS abundance, we examined IS content and location in natural populations of Synechococcus by comparing metagenomic data to the genomes of fully sequenced cultured isolates. The observed IS distribution in the metagenome was equivalent to the distribution in the isolates, indicating that the cultured isolates are appropriate models for the environmental population. High sequence conservation between IS families shared between the two isolates suggests that ISs are able to move between individuals within populations and between species via lateral gene transfer, consistent with models for IS family accumulation. Most IS families show evidence of recent activity, and interruption of critical genes in some individuals was observed, demonstrating that transposition is an ongoing mutational force in the populations.