The plastid of <i>RM12</i>, the photosynthetic ancestor of Apicomplexa

Abstract

The discovery of a novel alveolate RM12 enable to trace origin of the parasites of the group Apicomplexa and particularly their plastid called the apicoplast. In this work, I sequence four genes encoded in RM12's plastid genome and inferred their phylogenies. A close relatioship between the apicoplast was found. The size of the plastid genome was estimated as 130 kb. The results confirm the apicoplast originated from a protosynthetic plastid similar to the plastid of RM12. This finding may have significant consequences in research of the apicoplast evolution and function.