TY - JOUR
T1 - Genomic analysis of Coccomyxa viridis, a common low-abundance alga associated with lichen symbioses
AU - Tagirdzhanova, Gulnara
AU - Scharnagl, Klara
AU - Yan, Xia
AU - Talbot, Nicholas J.
N1 - Data availability statement: The annotated genome assembly of C. viridis will be available at NCBI (Study Accession PRJEB65893). All code associated with the analysis along with details on the usage of bioinformatics tools is available on GitHub (https://github.com/metalichen/2023_Coccomyxa_viridis_genome).
Funding Information: This work was supported by grants from the Leverhulme Trust RPG-2018-139, The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, the Halpin Family and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBS/E/J/000PR9798 to N.J.T. The authors thank Paul Dyer and Peter Crittenden for providing the algal culture.
PY - 2023/12/2
Y1 - 2023/12/2
N2 - Lichen symbiosis is centered around a relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic microbe, usually a green alga. In addition to their main photosynthetic partner (the photobiont), lichen symbioses can contain additional algae present in low abundance. The biology of these algae and the way they interact with the rest of lichen symbionts remains largely unknown. Here we present the first genome sequence of a non-photobiont lichen-associated alga. Coccomyxa viridis was unexpectedly found in 12% of publicly available lichen metagenomes. With few exceptions, members of the Coccomyxa viridis clade occur in lichens as non-photobionts, potentially growing in thalli endophytically. The 45.7 Mbp genome of C. viridis was assembled into 18 near chromosome-level contigs, making it one of the most contiguous genomic assemblies for any lichen-associated algae. Comparing the C. viridis genome to its close relatives revealed the presence of traits associated with the lichen lifestyle. The genome of C. viridis provides a new resource for exploring the evolution of the lichen symbiosis, and how symbiotic lifestyles shaped evolution in green algae.
AB - Lichen symbiosis is centered around a relationship between a fungus and a photosynthetic microbe, usually a green alga. In addition to their main photosynthetic partner (the photobiont), lichen symbioses can contain additional algae present in low abundance. The biology of these algae and the way they interact with the rest of lichen symbionts remains largely unknown. Here we present the first genome sequence of a non-photobiont lichen-associated alga. Coccomyxa viridis was unexpectedly found in 12% of publicly available lichen metagenomes. With few exceptions, members of the Coccomyxa viridis clade occur in lichens as non-photobionts, potentially growing in thalli endophytically. The 45.7 Mbp genome of C. viridis was assembled into 18 near chromosome-level contigs, making it one of the most contiguous genomic assemblies for any lichen-associated algae. Comparing the C. viridis genome to its close relatives revealed the presence of traits associated with the lichen lifestyle. The genome of C. viridis provides a new resource for exploring the evolution of the lichen symbiosis, and how symbiotic lifestyles shaped evolution in green algae.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178342949&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-023-48637-w
DO - 10.1038/s41598-023-48637-w
M3 - Article
C2 - 38042930
AN - SCOPUS:85178342949
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 13
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
M1 - 21285
ER -