A bioinformatics survey of about 120 protist and 240 fungal genomes and transcriptomes revealed a broad array of globins, representing five of the eight subfamilies identified in bacteria. Most conspicuous is the absence of protoglobins and globin-coupled sensors, except for a two-domain globin in Leishmanias, that comprises a nucleotidyl cyclase domain, and the virtual absence of truncated group 3 globins. In contrast to bacteria, co-occurrence of more than two globin subfamilies appears to be rare in protists. Although globins were lacking in the Apicomplexa and the Microsporidia intracellular pathogens, they occurred in the pathogenic Trypanosomatidae, Stramenopiles and certain fungi. Flavohaemoglobins (FHbs) and related single-domain globins occur across the protist groups. Fungi are unique in having FHbs co-occurring with sensor single-domain globins (SSDgbs). Obligately biotrophic fungi covered in our analysis lack globins. Furthermore, SSDgbs occur only in a heterolobosean amoeba, Naegleria and the stramenopile Hyphochytrium. Of the three subfamilies of truncated Mb-fold globins, TrHb1s appear to be the most widespread, occurring as multiple copies in chlorophyte and ciliophora genomes, many as multidomain proteins. Although the ciliates appear to have only TrHb1s, the chlorophytes have Mb-like globins and TrHb2s, both closely related to the corresponding plant globins. The presently available number of protist genomes is inadequate to provide a definitive census of their globins. Bayesian molecular analyses of single-domain 3/3 Mb-fold globins suggest a close relationship of chlorophyte and haptophyte globins, including choanoflagellate and Capsaspora globins to land plant symbiotic and non-symbiotic haemoglobins and to vertebrate neuroglobins.
Keywords: Evolution; Fungi; Haemoglobin; Phylogeny; Protist.
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