An ancestral eukaryote acquired photosynthesis by genetically integrating a cyanobacterial
endosymbiont as the chloroplast. The chloroplast was then further integrated into many …

Photosynthesis in eukaryotes first arose through phagocytotic processes wherein an
engulfed cyanobacterium was not digested, but instead became a permanent organelle …

Microalgae fuel food webs and biogeochemical cycles of key elements in the ocean. What
determines microalgal dominance in the ocean is a long-standing question. Red tide …

Mixotrophic Dinophysis species threaten human health and coastal economies through the
production of toxins which cause diarrhetic shellfish poisoning (DSP) in humans. Novel …

Foraminifera are ubiquitously distributed in marine habitats, playing a major role in marine
sediment carbon sequestration and the nitrogen cycle. They exhibit a wide diversity of …

Dinoflagellates are exemplars of plastid complexity and evolutionary possibility. Their
ordinary plastids are extraordinary, and their extraordinary plastids provide a window into …

Protists are key stone components of aquatic ecosystems, sustaining primary productivity
and aquatic food webs. However, their diversity, ecology and structuring factors shaping …

Dinophysis dinoflagellates are predators of Mesodinium ciliates, from which they retain only
the plastids of cryptophyte origin. The absence of nuclear photosynthetic cryptophyte genes …

Mixotrophy, ie, the capability of both phototrophy and phagotrophy within a single organism,
is a prominent trophic mode in aquatic ecosystems. Mixotrophic strategies can be highly …

Several sacoglossan sea slug species feed on macroalgae and incorporate chloroplasts
into tubular cells of their digestive diverticula. We investigated the role of the “stolen” …