DNA-binding and protein structure of nuclear factors likely acting in genetic information processing in the chromatophore.

The chromatophores in are evolutionary-early-stage photosynthetic organelles. Biological processes in chromatophores depend on a combination of chromatophore and nucleus-encoded proteins. Interestingly, besides proteins carrying chromatophore-targeting signals, a large arsenal of short chromatophore-targeted proteins (sCTPs; <90 amino acids) without recognizable targeting signals were found in chromatophores.

A bipartite chromatophore transit peptide and N-terminal protein processing in the Paulinella chromatophore.

The amoeba Paulinella chromatophora contains photosynthetic organelles, termed chromatophores, which evolved independently from plastids in plants and algae. At least one-third of the chromatophore proteome consists of nucleus-encoded (NE) proteins that are imported across the chromatophore double envelope membranes. Chromatophore-targeted proteins exceeding 250 amino acids (aa) carry a conserved N-terminal extension presumably involved in protein targeting, termed the chromatophore transit peptide (crTP).

Paulinella chromatophora.

Macorano and Nowack provide an overview of Paulinella chromatophora, a filose amoeba that harbors an organelle called a chromatophore and only the second known case of a eukaryote forming a primary endosymbiosis with a photosynthetic bacterium. Studying this relatively young relationship offers the chance to study the early stages of endosymbiosis.

The Puzzle of Metabolite Exchange and Identification of Putative Octotrico Peptide Repeat Expression Regulators in the Nascent Photosynthetic Organelles of .

The endosymbiotic acquisition of mitochondria and plastids more than one billion years ago was central for the evolution of eukaryotic life. However, owing to their ancient origin, these organelles provide only limited insights into the initial stages of organellogenesis. The cercozoan amoeba contains photosynthetic organelles-termed chromatophores-that evolved from a cyanobacterium ∼100 million years ago, independently from plastids in plants and algae.