Ferredoxin-NADP+ oxidoreductase of C. paradoxa nucleus encoded, but cyanobacterial gene transfer from symbiont to host, an evolutionary mechanism originating new species.

The nucleus encoded cyanoplast ("cyanellar") ferredoxin-NADP + oxidoreductase (FNR) of Cyanophora paradoxa, characterized by an N-terminal amino acid sequence, is compared with homologous sequences of other photoautotrophic organisms. The high degree of similarity to the cyanobacterial sequences indicates a cyanobacterial origin. This could be a first direct demonstration of an intertaxonic combination: a gene transfer from an original endocytobiont (cyanobacterium) to the nucleus of its host, one of the most important demands of the Endosymbiosis Theory, an evolutionary mechanism leading to the origin of a new species.