What is the theory of secondary endosymbiosis?
1 Answer
Sep 30, 2016
Secondary endosymbiosis occurs when the product of primary endosymbiosis is itself engulfed and retained by another free living eukaryote.
Explanation:
Secondary endosymbiosis has occurred several times and has given rise to extremely diverse groups of algae and other eukaryotes. Some organism take opurtunistic advantage --- they engulf the alga and use the products of its photosynthesis. Once the prey dies or is lost, the host returns to a free living state.
The heterotrophic protist Hatena behaves like a predator until it ingests a green alga. The alga loses its flagella and cytoskeleton and Hatena ( now host ) switches to photosynthetic nutrition. It gains ability to move towards light and lose its own feeding mechanism.
