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Chloroplasts of plants and algae, and chromatophores of rhizopods are believed to originate from complex processes involving cyanobacterial endosymbiosis, occurring at about 1500 and 100 million years ago, respectively. Compared to chloroplasts, chromatophores are expected to have retained more cyanobacterial characters. Lipid and genomic analyses by Sato et al. (on pp. 869–881) revealed indeed the complete cyanobacterial lipid metabolic pathway. However, newly assimilated photosynthates were rapidly and preferentially channeled towards extrachromatophore lipid synthesis. These results indicate that the chromatophore is not an independent entity but an integral part of the cellular metabolic machinery.
The cover image shows a transmission electron micrograph of a tangential section of a Paulinella micropora MYN1 cell covered with silicate scales. In the middle of the cell, two elongated, curved chromatophores, filled with concentric thylakoid membranes, appear as multiple cross-sections. Image courtesy of Naoki Sato, University of Tokyo; see also Fig. 1B of Sato et al. for details.
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