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In oxygenic photosynthesis the initial photochemical processes are carried out by photosystem I (PSI) and II (PSII). Although subunit composition varies between cyanobacterial and plastid photosystems, the core structures of PSI and PSII are conserved throughout photosynthetic eukaryotes. So far, the photosynthetic complexes have been characterised in only a small number of organisms. We performed  in silico  and biochemical studies to explore the organization and evolution of the photosynthetic apparatus in the chromerids  Chromera velia  and  Vitrella brassicaformis , autotrophic relatives of apicomplexans. We catalogued the presence and location of genes coding for conserved subunits of the photosystems as well as cytochrome b 6 f and ATP synthase in chromerids and other phototrophs and performed a phylogenetic analysis. We then characterised the photosynthetic complexes of  Chromera  and  Vitrella  using 2D gels combined with mass-spectrometry and further analysed the purified  Chromera  PSI. Our data suggest that the photosynthetic apparatus of chromerids underwent unique structural changes. Both photosystems (as well as cytochrome b 6 f and ATP synthase) lost several canonical subunits, while PSI gained one superoxide dismutase ( Vitrella ) or two superoxide dismutases and several unknown proteins ( Chromera ) as new regular subunits. We discuss these results in light of the extraordinarily efficient photosynthetic processes described in  Chromera .

Extensive gain and loss of photosystem I subunits in chromerid algae, photosynthetic relatives of apicomplexans