Identification of genes for sulfolipid synthesis in primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae

Sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol is one of the lipids that construct thylakoid membranes, and is distributed from cyanobacteria to plastids in plants including a red lineage. One of the most primitive red algae, Cyanidioschyzon melorae, similar to cyanobacteria and green plants, possesses homologs of the SQD1 and SQD2 genes that code for UDP-sulfoquinovose and sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol synthases, respectively, for the synthesis of sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol. We here revealed the structural properties of SQD1 and SQD2 homologs in C. melorae intrinsic to those of the authentic proteins, and verified their enzymatic functions through heterologous expression in cyanobacterial disruptants as to the corresponding genes. The results demonstrated that the system of sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol synthesis could have been conserved through evolution of cyanobacteria to plastids in a red lineage, which is compatible with the monophyletic origin of plastids.