Ocelloid

An ocelloid is a subcellular structure found in the family Warnowiaceae (warnowiids), which are a members of a group of unicellular organisms known as dinoflagellates. The ocelloid is analogous in structure and function to the eyes of multicellular organisms, which focus, process and detect light. The ocelloid is much more complex than the eyespot, a light-sensitive structure also found in unicellular organisms, and is in fact one of the most complex known subcellular structures. It has been described as a striking example of convergent evolution.

History

The ocelloid was originally described in 1884. Early descriptions were met with skepticism and hypothesized to represent the eye of a multicellular organism coincidentally engulfed by a single-celled organism. The possibility that it had an evolutionary relationship to plastids had been considered at least since the 1970s, although until the 2010s direct evidence was scarce.

Structure

Ocelloids contain subcomponents analogous to eye structures including the lens, cornea, iris, and retina. It can be divided into two substructures, the translucent, roundish hyalosome and the heavily pigmented melanosome, also known as the retinal body or pigment cup. The hyalosome serves as the refractive lens of the ocelloid; it is surrounded by a layer of mitochondria serving as the cornea and has constrictive rings analogous to the iris. The retinal body has internal structure reminiscent of thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts and contains proteins related to bacteriorhodopsin, a light-sensitive protein found in some archaea.