Abstract
Cyanidioschyzon merolae is a primitive red alga found in sulfuric acidic hot springs in Italy, and has the simplest cell structure as eukaryote, composed of one nucleus, one mitochondrion, and one plastid. Eukaryotic cell has evolved as the results of endosymbiotic events, and fundamentals of eukaryotes should have been established at the origin and maintained since then. Thus, information obtained using C. merolae should reveal the framework of eukaryotes in general. We have determined the 100% complete nuclear genome sequence of C. merolae in 2007, where we found rare intron structure and no highly repeated sequences. These characteristics are extremely suitable for proteomic researches using MS technologies, and the heat stability of proteins found in this thermophile is facilitating the structural biological approaches. In the symposium, we present recent advances on the organelle division machineries, coupling mechanism of organelle and nuclear DNA replication, and molecular genetics tools.
