ALGAE CONTAINING CHLOROPHYLLS <i>a</i> + <i>c</i> ARE PARAPHYLETIC: MOLECULAR EVOLUTIONARY ANALYSIS OF THE CHROMOPHYTA

Abstract

Sequence comparisons of small subunit ribosomal RNA coding regions from 12 chlorophylls a + c-containing algae were used to infer phylogenetic relationships within the Chromophyta. Three chromophyte lines of descent, delineated by the Bacillariophyceae, the Phaeophyceae/Xanthophyceae, and the Chrysophyceae/Eustigmatophyceae/Synurophyceae are members of a complex evolutionary assemblage, which also includes representatives of the Oomycota ("lower" fungi). Maximum parsimony and distance matrix methods demonstrate a common evolutionary history for these lineages but their relative branching order could not be determined. Other algal species with chlorophylls a + c, including dinoflagellates and prymnesiophytes, are not members of this complex assemblage. Dinoflagellates are specifically related to apicomplexans and ciliates, and the prymnesiophyte, Emiliania huxleyi, represents an independent photosynthetic lineage that separated from other eukaryotes during the nearly simultaneous divergence of plants, animals, fungi, and a number of other protist lineages. The small subunit rRNA phylogenies of chromophytes/oomycetes were compared to those derived from comparisons of ultrastructural characters. Only tubular, tripartite mastigonemes (flagellar hairs) characterized all studied taxa of chromophytes/oomycetes as a monophyletic assemblage.