Here, the authors leverage data from the Tara Oceans expeditions to perform a phylogeny-guided plastid genome-resolved metagenomic survey and provide 660 non-redundant plastid genomes from marine algae. They identify a rare, deep branching plastid lineage of nano-sized algae, describing their diversity, phylogeny, distribution and relevance to our understanding of plastid endosymbioses.
- Mahwash Jamy
- Thomas Huber
- Fabien Burki