The apicoplast (relic chloroplast) genome did not contain chlorophyll biosynthesis genes, providing evidence for another independent loss of this pathway within Apicomplexa #Ichthyocolids #Evolution

We performed a hybrid metagenomic sequencing approach incorporating Nanopore and illumina reads, allowing us to recover the entire rRNA operon of this apicomplexan parasite along with the complete mitochondrion and apicoplast genomes 🧬 #Ichthyocolids

Using organelle and rRNA phylogenetics we found these coccidian parasites to be sister to the corallicolids, the general anthozoan symbiont found in corals across the globe 🪸🐟 #Ichthyocolids #Protistology