Derelle E, Ferraz C, Rombauts S, Rouzé P, Worden AZ, Robbens S, Partensky F, Degroeve S, Echeynié S, Cooke R, Saeys Y, Wuyts J, Jabbari K, Bowler C, Panaud O, Piégu B, Ball SG, Ral JP, Bouget FY, Piganeau G, De Baets B, Picard A, Delseny M, Demaille J, Van de Peer Y, Moreau H.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 1;103(31):11647-52. doi:10.1073/pnas.0604795103

Genome analysis of the smallest free-living eukaryote Ostreococcus tauri unveils many unique features.

Half of chromosome 2 and the whole of chromosome 19 differ from the rest of the genome by a lower GC content (52% instead of 59%) and a higher frequency of repeated regions (they contain 77% of the 417 repeat elements). Chr2 has also a different codon usage and smaller introns. The genes on chr19 tend to be less related the “green lineage” (photosynthetic cells that gave rise to plants).