title: Algal genes in aplastidic eukaryotes are not necessarily derived from historical plastids.
abstract: In photosynthetic eukaryotes, many genes were transferred from plastids or algal endosymbionts to nuclear genomes of host cells. These transferred genes are often considered genetic footprints of plastids. However, genes of algal origin have also been detected in some plastid-lacking eukaryotes, and these genes are often cited as evidence of historical plastids. In this paper, we discuss two recent publications about algal genes in plastid-lacking eukaryotes. Both studies highlight the point that algal genes are not exclusively derived from historical plastids. Instead, the findings show that gene acquisition through feeding activities is a plausible explanation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology; East Carolina University; Greenville, NC USA ; Key Laboratory of Biodiversity and Biogeography; Kunming Institute of Botany; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Kunming, China.
authors.forename: Jipei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yue
authors.forename: Jinling
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huang