The structure and formation of host-parasite pit connections between the red algal alloparasiteHarveyella mirabilis and its red algal hostOdonthalia floccosa

Wetherbee, Richard; Quirk, Helen; Mallett, Joan E.; Ricker, R. W.

doi:10.1007/bf01287818

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…These secondary pit connections are known to occur in a wide range of Florideophyceae and form between two genetically similar red algal cells [8,16]. Red algal parasite spores utilize secondary pit connections as a way to enter the cells of the host [8,17,18]. As evidence for the importance of secondary pit connections in parasitic infections, parasites are not known from red algal orders where secondary pit connections do not occur [19].…”

Section: The Importance Of Red Algal Pit Connectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are all red algal parasites cut from the same cloth?

Salomaki

Lane

2014

Acta Soc Bot Pol

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Parasitism is a common life strategy throughout the eukaryotic tree of life. Many devastating human pathogens, including the causative agents of malaria and toxoplasmosis, have evolved from a photosynthetic ancestor. However, how an organism transitions from a photosynthetic to a parasitic life history strategy remains mostly unknown. This is largely because few systems present the opportunity to make meaningful comparisons between a parasite and a close free-living relative. Parasites have independently evolved dozens of times throughout the Florideophyceae (Rhodophyta), and often infect close relatives. The accepted evolutionary paradigm proposes that red algal parasites arise by first infecting a close relative and over time diversify and infect more distantly related species. This provides a natural evolutionary gradient of relationships between hosts and parasites that share a photosynthetic common ancestor. Elegant microscopic work in the late 20th century provided detailed insight into the infection cycle of red algal parasites and the cellular interactions between parasites and their hosts. Those studies led to the use of molecular work to further investigate the origins of the parasite organelles and reveal the evolutionary relationships between hosts and their parasites. Here we synthesize the research detailing the infection methods and cellular interactions between red algal parasites and their hosts. We offer an alternative hypothesis to the current dogma of red algal parasite evolution and propose that red algae can adopt a parasitic life strategy through multiple evolutionary pathways, including direct infection of distant relatives. Furthermore, we highlight potential directions for future research to further evaluate parasite evolution in red algae.

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Section: The Importance Of Red Algal Pit Connectionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are all red algal parasites cut from the same cloth?

Salomaki

Lane

2014

Acta Soc Bot Pol

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“…With modern microscopy, the structure and formation of secondary pit connections between parasites and their hosts were determined (Kugrens and West , Goff and Cole , Wetherbee and Quirk ,b, Wetherbee et al. ). Furthermore, these cell‐to‐cell fusions were proposed to serve as the mechanism by which nutrients are transported from the host to parasite cells (Wetherbee and Quirk ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular phylogenetics supports a clade of red algal parasites retaining native plastids: taxonomy and terminology revised

Salomaki

Lane

2019

Journal of Phycology

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Parasitism is a life strategy that has repeatedly evolved within the Florideophyceae. Historically, the terms adelphoparasite and alloparasite have been used to distinguish parasites based on the relative phylogenetic relationship of host and parasite. However, analyses using molecular phylogenetics indicate that nearly all red algal parasites infect within their taxonomic family, and a range of relationships exist between host and parasite. To date, all investigated adelphoparasites have lost their plastid, and instead, incorporate a host‐derived plastid when packaging spores. In contrast, a highly reduced plastid lacking photosynthesis genes was sequenced from the alloparasite Choreocolax polysiphoniae. Here we present the complete Harveyella mirabilis plastid genome, which has also lost genes involved in photosynthesis, and a partial plastid genome from Leachiella pacifica. The H. mirabilis plastid shares more synteny with free‐living red algal plastids than that of C. polysiphoniae. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrates that C. polysiphoniae, H. mirabilis, and L. pacifica form a robustly supported clade of parasites, which retain their own plastid genomes, within the Rhodomelaceae. We therefore transfer all three genera from the exclusively parasitic family, Choreocolacaceae, to the Rhodomelaceae. Additionally, we recommend applying the terms archaeplastic parasites (formerly alloparasites), and neoplastic parasites (formerly adelphoparasites) to distinguish red algal parasites using a biological framework rather than taxonomic affiliation with their hosts.

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“…Remarkably, there are also reports on the occurrence of secondary pit connections in Rhodophyta, namely at the interspecific cell interface of a parasitic red algae and another host Rhodophyta species [ 83 , 84 , 85 ]. It was argued that pit connections between species could certainly not develop (primarily) during cytokinesis, but must have been formed by an entirely different mechanism [ 31 ].…”

Section: Please Contact—various Types Of Non-plasmodesmatal Cell Conn...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Multicellularity and the Need for Communication—A Systematic Overview on (Algal) Plasmodesmata and Other Types of Symplasmic Cell Connections

Wegner,

Porth,

Ehlers

2023

Plants

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In the evolution of eukaryotes, the transition from unicellular to simple multicellular organisms has happened multiple times. For the development of complex multicellularity, characterized by sophisticated body plans and division of labor between specialized cells, symplasmic intercellular communication is supposed to be indispensable. We review the diversity of symplasmic connectivity among the eukaryotes and distinguish between distinct types of non-plasmodesmatal connections, plasmodesmata-like structures, and ‘canonical’ plasmodesmata on the basis of developmental, structural, and functional criteria. Focusing on the occurrence of plasmodesmata (-like) structures in extant taxa of fungi, brown algae (Phaeophyceae), green algae (Chlorophyta), and streptophyte algae, we present a detailed critical update on the available literature which is adapted to the present classification of these taxa and may serve as a tool for future work. From the data, we conclude that, actually, development of complex multicellularity correlates with symplasmic connectivity in many algal taxa, but there might be alternative routes. Furthermore, we deduce a four-step process towards the evolution of canonical plasmodesmata and demonstrate similarity of plasmodesmata in streptophyte algae and land plants with respect to the occurrence of an ER component. Finally, we discuss the urgent need for functional investigations and molecular work on cell connections in algal organisms.

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The structure and formation of host-parasite pit connections between the red algal alloparasiteHarveyella mirabilis and its red algal hostOdonthalia floccosa

Cited by 13 publications

References 20 publications

Are all red algal parasites cut from the same cloth?

Are all red algal parasites cut from the same cloth?

Molecular phylogenetics supports a clade of red algal parasites retaining native plastids: taxonomy and terminology revised

Multicellularity and the Need for Communication—A Systematic Overview on (Algal) Plasmodesmata and Other Types of Symplasmic Cell Connections

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