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Quantitative Analysis of Gene Ancestry in Euglenoidea
Soukal, Petr ; Hampl, Vladimír (advisor) ; Burki, Fabien (referee) ; Horák, Aleš (referee)
Genes, units of genetic information, are passed from one individual to another, typically within the same species from parents to offspring. Occasionally, genes can be transferred to different species through a process called horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Endosymbiosis is a process in which one organism engulfs another organism and the genes flow between the two symbionts in a process called endosymbiotic gene transfer (EGT), which is a subtype of HGT. Eventually, the endosymbiont may become an organelle such as a mitochondrion or a plastid. Euglenids (Euglenoidea) are unicellular eukaryotes with diverse modes of nutrition - phagotro- phy (e. g., Peranema), osmotrophy (e. g., Rhabdomonas), mixotrophy (phagotrophy and phototrophy in Rapaza), and phototrophy (possessing plastids; e. g., Eutreptiella). The history of endosymbioses of green algae (especially Chlorophyta) and ancestors of Euglenophyceae (including Rapaza) is complex. In my thesis, I performed the quantitative analysis of gene ancestry (QAGA) based on transcripto- mic data of Euglena gracilis showing contribution of closely related Kinetoplastea (1,420 genes, 3.88 % of transcripts inherited vertically), and contribution of multiple "unrelated" (mainly) phototrophic organisms, e. g. Viridiplantae (572, 1.57 %), or Haptophyta (234, 0.64...
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