TY - JOUR TI - Genetic transformation of the dinoflagellate chloroplast AU - Nimmo, Isabel C AU - Barbrook, Adrian C AU - Lassadi, Imen AU - Chen, Jit Ern AU - Geisler, Katrin AU - Smith, Alison G AU - Aranda, Manuel AU - Purton, Saul AU - Waller, Ross F AU - Nisbet, R Ellen R AU - Howe, Christopher J A2 - Falkowski, Paul G A2 - Hardtke, Christian S VL - 8 PY - 2019 DA - 2019/07/18 SP - e45292 C1 - eLife 2019;8:e45292 DO - 10.7554/eLife.45292 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.45292 AB - Coral reefs are some of the most important and ecologically diverse marine environments. At the base of the reef ecosystem are dinoflagellate algae, which live symbiotically within coral cells. Efforts to understand the relationship between alga and coral have been greatly hampered by the lack of an appropriate dinoflagellate genetic transformation technology. By making use of the plasmid-like fragmented chloroplast genome, we have introduced novel genetic material into the dinoflagellate chloroplast genome. We have shown that the introduced genes are expressed and confer the expected phenotypes. Genetically modified cultures have been grown for 1 year with subculturing, maintaining the introduced genes and phenotypes. This indicates that cells continue to divide after transformation and that the transformation is stable. This is the first report of stable chloroplast transformation in dinoflagellate algae. KW - dinoflagellate KW - Amphidinium KW - chloroplast KW - transformation KW - zooxanthella KW - coral reef JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -