UPMC Université Paris 6, The Marine Plants and Biomolecules Laboratory, UMR 7139, Station Biologique de Roscoff, Place Georges Teissier, BP74, 29682 Roscoff Cedex, France.
Nature. 2010 Jun 3;465(7298):617-21. doi: 10.1038/nature09016.
Brown algae (Phaeophyceae) are complex photosynthetic organisms with a very different evolutionary history to green plants, to which they are only distantly related. These seaweeds are the dominant species in rocky coastal ecosystems and they exhibit many interesting adaptations to these, often harsh, environments. Brown algae are also one of only a small number of eukaryotic lineages that have evolved complex multicellularity (Fig. 1). We report the 214 million base pair (Mbp) genome sequence of the filamentous seaweed Ectocarpus siliculosus (Dillwyn) Lyngbye, a model organism for brown algae, closely related to the kelps (Fig. 1). Genome features such as the presence of an extended set of light-harvesting and pigment biosynthesis genes and new metabolic processes such as halide metabolism help explain the ability of this organism to cope with the highly variable tidal environment. The evolution of multicellularity in this lineage is correlated with the presence of a rich array of signal transduction genes. Of particular interest is the presence of a family of receptor kinases, as the independent evolution of related molecules has been linked with the emergence of multicellularity in both the animal and green plant lineages. The Ectocarpus genome sequence represents an important step towards developing this organism as a model species, providing the possibility to combine genomic and genetic approaches to explore these and other aspects of brown algal biology further.
褐藻（Phaeophyceae）是一种具有非常不同进化历史的复杂光合生物，与绿藻关系甚远，绿藻是这些海草是多岩石沿海生态系统中的优势物种，它们对这些通常恶劣的环境表现出许多有趣的适应性。褐藻也是少数几个已经进化出复杂多细胞结构的真核生物谱系之一（图 1）。我们报告了丝状海藻 Ectocarpus siliculosus（Dillwyn）Lyngbye 的 2.14 亿碱基对（Mbp）基因组序列，它是褐藻的模式生物，与巨藻密切相关（图 1）。基因组特征，如存在扩展的光捕获和色素生物合成基因集，以及新的代谢过程，如卤化物代谢，有助于解释该生物应对高度变化的潮汐环境的能力。该谱系中多细胞结构的进化与丰富的信号转导基因存在相关。特别有趣的是受体激酶家族的存在，因为相关分子的独立进化与动物和绿藻谱系中多细胞结构的出现有关。Ectocarpus 基因组序列是将该生物发展为模式物种的重要一步，为结合基因组和遗传方法进一步探索这些和其他褐藻生物学方面提供了可能性。
