The Hemiselmis andersenii Nucleomorph GenomeHemiselmis andersenii is a cryptomonad, which are aquatic unicellular eukaryotes that are photosynthetic because of the presence of red algae that has been acquired through secondary endosymbiosis. They also contain the miniaturized version of the nucleus of the algae, termed nucleomorph. The Nucleomorph genome of
Hemiselmis andersenii has recently been sequenced at the Dalhousie University, Canada. It consists of three chromosomes with a genome size of about 572 kb which is similar to the nucleomorph of another cryptomonad,
Guillardia theta. Because of their reduced size and cell simplification, the nucleomorphs make an important model system to study genome and cell function and help in the understanding of the more complex chromosomes of typical nuclei.