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Updated: Jul 14, 2026

Autofluorescence Imaging to Evaluate Red Algae Physiology
Published on: February 17, 2023
Synchroma grande spec. nov. (Synchromophyceae class. nov., Heterokontophyta): an amoeboid marine alga with unique
Susanne Horn1, Katrin Ehlers, Guido Fritzsch
1Institut für Biologie I, Abteilung Pflanzenphysiologie, Universität Leipzig, Johannisallee 21-23, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
Chromist algae including the Heterokontophyta are supposed to have evolved monophyletically by secondary endosymbiosis from a eukaryotic host cell that engulfed a eukaryotic red alga. The red algal endosymbiont was then reduced to a secondary plastid surrounded by four enveloping membranes. On the basis of the amoeboid marine alga Synchroma grande gen. et spec. nov., the Synchromophyceae are described here as a new class of Heterokontophyta. Their taxonomic position is characterized by 18S rRNA and rbcL gene phylogenies, morphology, and pigment composition. The so far unique feature of the Synchromophyceae is the occurrence of conspicuous chloroplast complexes representing multiplastidic red secondary endosymbionts. In these remarkable secondary endosymbionts, several primary chloroplasts are aggregated in a common periplastidial compartment and are collectively enveloped by an additional outer membrane pair. The discovery of this novel plastid morphology is highly relevant for research on algal evolution and is discussed in terms of the postulated monophyletic origin of Chromista.
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