December 2023 archive

Typical (peridinin-containing) dinoflagellates possess plastid genomes composed of small plasmids named ‘minicircles’. Despite the ecological importance of dinoflagellate photosynthesis in corals and marine ecosystems, the structural characteristics, replication dynamics, and evolutionary forcing of dinoflagellate plastid genomes remain poorly understood. Here we sequenced the plastid genome of the symbiodiniacean species Fugacium kawagutii and conducted comparative analyses. We identified…

Typical (peridinin-containing) dinoflagellates possess plastid genomes composed of small plasmids named ‘minicircles’. Despite the ecological importance of dinoflagellate photosynthesis in corals and marine ecosystems, the structural characteristics, replication dynamics, and evolutionary forcing of dinoflagellate plastid genomes remain poorly understood. Here we sequenced the plastid genome of the symbiodiniacean species Fugacium kawagutii and conducted comparative analyses. We identified…

Noctiluca scintillans (red) is a widely distributed heterotrophic dinoflagellate and a prominent red tide forming species. This study investigated the effects of Noctiluca blooms on marine microbial diversity and functionality using multi-omics approaches. Our findings revealed significant differences in the community composition of Noctiluca-associated bacteria compared to those associated with autotrophic plankton and free-living bacteria in the surrounding seawater. The dominant bacterial…

Nitzschia is one of the largest genera of diatoms found in a range of aquatic environments, from freshwater to seawater. This genus contains evolutionarily and ecologically unique species, such as those that have lost photosynthetic capacity or those that live symbiotically in dinoflagellates. Several Nitzschia species have been used as indicators of water pollution. Recently, Nitzschia species have attracted considerable attention in the field of biotechnology. In this study, a transformation…

Dinoflagellates are known to possess an exceptionally large genome organized in permanently condensed chromosomes. Focusing on the contribution of satellite DNA (satDNA) to the whole DNA content of genomes and its potential role in the architecture of the chromosomes, we present the characterization of the satellitome of Alexandriun minutum strain VGO577. To achieve this, we analyzed Illumina reads using graph-based clustering and performed complementary bioinformatic analyses. In this way, we…