Molecular chaperones mediate the correct folding of nascent or denatured pr
oteins and are found in both the organelles and cytoplasm of eukaryotic cel
ls. Cryptomonad algae are unusual in possessing an extra cytoplasmic compar
tment (the periplastid space), the result of having engulfed and retained a
photosynthetic eukaryote. Within the periplastid space is a diminutive nuc
leus (the nucleomorph) that encodes mostly genes for its own expression as
well as a few needed by the plastid. Two plastid-encoded chaperones (GroEL
and DnaK) and a nucleomorph-encoded chaperone (Cpn60) have been reported fr
om the cryptomonad, Guillardia theta. Here we analyse G. theta nucleomorph
genes for members of the cytosolic HSP70 and HSP90 families of molecular ch
aperones, a heat shock transcription factor (HSF), and ail eight subunits o
f the group II chaperonin, CCT. These are presumably all active in the peri
plastid space, assisting in the maturation of polypeptides required by the
cell; we propose a central role for them also in the structure and assembly
of a putative relict mitotic apparatus. Curiously, none of the genes for c
o-chaperones of HSP70, HSP90, or CCT have been detected in the nucleomorph
genome; they are either not needed or are encoded in the host nuclear genom
e and targeted back into the periplastid space. Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
homologs of HSP70 and HSP90 are also not present. Striking differences in t
he degree of conservation of the various nucleomorph-encoded molecular chap
erones were observed. While the G. theta HSP70 and HSP90 homologs are well
conserved, each of the eight CCT subunits (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsil
on, eta, theta, and xi) is remarkably divergent. Such differences are likel
y evidence for reduced/ different functional constraints on the various mol
ecular chaperones functioning in the periplastid space.