Paulinella micropora strain:KR01 Genome sequencing and assembly

The thecate filose amoeba Paulinella micropora is a good model organism for understanding plastid organellogenesis because its chromatophore was newly derived from an alpha-cyanobacterium. Plastid primary endosymbiosis in Paulinella occurred relatively recently (90–140 million years ago, Mya), whereas the origin of the canonical Archaeplastida plastid occurred >1,500 Mya. Therefore, these two events provide independent perspectives on plastid formation on vastly different timescales. The genome of Paulinella micropora would represent a valuable informational foundation to explore mechanism and dynamics of EGT and the contribution of genes acquired by HGT to chromatophore integration.