Sequencing and assembly of the Prasinophyceae sp. CCMP1205 genome. Chloropicon primus strain:CCMP1205

Thriving mainly in marine environments, prasinophytes constitute an heterogeneous assemblage of unicellular green algae that occupy the earliest-diverging lineages of the Chlorophyta. Given their basal positions, prasinophytes hold the key to understanding the nature of the last common ancestor of all green plants and the origin of the core chlorophytes (i.e. the Pedinophyceae, Chlorodendrophyceae, Trebouxiophyceae, Ulvophyceae and Chlorophyceae). It is of great interest to identify the genomic changes that occurred during the transition from prasinophytes to core chlorophytes, a pivotal step that was accompanied by the rapid radiation of multiple chlorophyte lineages. Towards this goal, we sequenced the genome of the marine Prasinophyceae sp. CCMP 1205 representing clade VIIA, the sister group of all core chlorophytes. The objective of our study is to analyze this genome and to present a comparative analysis with previously described green algal genomes.