Photosynthetic phagotrophy of Chrysophyceae: evolutionary aspects.

Phagotrophy must have arisen fundamentally in all eukaryotes. Chrysophyceae, which exhibit both phagocytosis and photosynthesis, are an interesting subject for evolutionary study. On the basis of a handful of articles, we boldly assumed that Ochromonas and Uroglena are in an intermediate stage of evolution towards animal cells and will evolve a divergent dichotomy in future.