Picobiliphytes: A Marine Picoplanktonic Algal Group with Unknown Affinities to Other Eukaryotes

Environmental sequencing has revealed unimagined diversity among eukaryotic picoplankton. A distinct picoplanktonic algal group, initially detected from 185 ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences, was hybridized with rRNA λ-targeted (rRNA-targeted) probes, detected by tyramide signal amplification--fluorescent in situ hybridization, and showed an organelle-like body with orange fluorescence indicative of phycobilins. Using this fluorescence signal, cells were sorted by flow cytometry and probed. Hybridized cells contained a 4′,6′-diamidino-2-phenylindole--stained organelle resembling a plastid with a nucleomorph. This suggests that they may be secondary endosymbiotic algae. Pending the isolation of living cells and their formal description, these algae have been termed picobiliphytes.