DO PLASTID-RELATED CHARACTERS SUPPORT THE CHROMALVEOLATE HYPOTHESIS?1

According to the idea of secondary endosymbiosis, plastids with three and four envelope membranes have evolved from either red or green algal endosymbionts engulfed by phagotrophic protozoans. Although this hypothesis is nowadays commonly accepted, the number of secondary endosymbioses still remains controversial. One of the models, known as the ”chromalveolate” hypothesis, postulates that the 4 membrane‐bound plastids of Chromista and the 3 or...