Forced symbiosis between Synechocystis spp. PCC 6803 and apo-symbiotic Paramecium bursaria as an experimental model for evolutionary emergence of primitive photosynthetic eukaryotes

Single-cell green paramecia (Paramecium bursaria) is a swimming vehicle that carries several hundred cells of endo-symbiotic green algae. Here, a novel model for endo-symbiosis, prepared by introducing and maintaining the cells of cyanobacterium (Synechocystis spp. PCC 6803) in the apo-symbiotic cells of P. bursaria is described.