title: Evolutionary dynamics of light-independent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase genes in the secondary plastids of cryptophyte algae.
abstract: Plastid genes encoding light-independent protochlorophyllide oxidoreductase (LIPOR) subunits were isolated from cryptophyte algae, the first example of such genes in plastids of secondary endosymbiotic origin. The presence of functional and nonfunctional copies of LIPOR genes in cryptophytes suggests that light-independent chlorophyll biosynthesis is a nonessential pathway in these organisms.
authors.affiliation: Dalhousie University, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 5850 College Street, Sir Charles Tupper Medical Building, Halifax B3H 1X5, Canada.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fong
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Archibald
mesh_terms: D044785:Cryptophyta / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010088:Oxidoreductases / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D018087:Plastids / Q000235:genetics*; D011521:Protochlorophyllide / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D011521:Protochlorophyllide; D010088:Oxidoreductases