Use the following information to answer the question.
Paulinella chromatophora is one of the few cercozoans that is autotrophic, carrying out aerobic photosynthesis with its two elongated "chromatophores." The chromatophores are contained within vesicles of the host cell, and each is derived from a cyanobacterium, though not the same type of cyanobacterium that gave rise to the chloroplasts of algae and plants.
Which process could have allowed the nucleomorphs of chlorarachniophytes to be reduced, without the net loss of any genetic information?
A) conjugation
B) horizontal gene transfer
C) phagocytosis
D) meiosis

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Horizontal gene transfer could allow genetic information to be transferred from the nucleomorphs to the host genome, reducing the nucleomorphs while retaining the genetic information.

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