Chromerida is a phylum of unicellular

alveolate The alveolates (meaning "pitted like a honeycomb") are a group of protists, considered a major clade and superphylum within Eukarya. They are currently grouped with the stramenopiles and Rhizaria among the protists with tubulocristate mitochon ...

s, which includes photosynthetic species '' Chromera velia'' and '' Vitrella brassicaformis''. General features of the phylum include spherical cells each with a thick cell wall, chloroplast present with chlorophyll a only (no chlorophyll b or c), and an internal developing flagellum at some lifestages. They often live in close association with

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

s, and studies suggest their closest relatives is the parasitic group

Apicomplexa The Apicomplexa (also called Apicomplexia) are a large phylum of parasitic alveolates. Most of them possess a unique form of organelle that comprises a type of non-photosynthetic plastid called an apicoplast, and an apical complex structure. Th ...

, which evolved from photosynthetic ancestors, making Chromerida the last remaining photosynthetic members of an otherwise parasitic branch within Alveolata. Carter Lab at University of Sydney has undertaken new experiments to isolate novel Chromerids, using the same methods that were used to isolate '' Chromera velia'' and '' Vitrella brassicaformis''. These methods were agreed at the First Chromera Conference and Workshop held at the Heron Island Research Station, Queensland, Australia from November 21–25, 2011.

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* SAR supergroup phyla {{alveolate-stub