Involvement of plastid, mitochondrial and nuclear genomes in plant-to-plant horizontal gene transfer

This review focuses on plant-to-plant horizontal gene transfer (HGT) involving the three DNA-containing cellular compartments. It highlights the great incidence of HGT in the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of angiosperms, the increasing number of examples in plant nuclear genomes, and the lack of any convincing evidence for HGT in the well-studied plastid genome of land plants. Most of the foreign mitochondrial genes are non-functional, generally found as pseudogenes in the recipient plant mtDNA that maintains its functional native genes. The few exceptions involve chimeric HGT, in which foreign and native copies recombine leading to a functional and single copy of the gene. Maintenance of foreign genes in plant mitochondria is probably the result of genetic drift, but a possible evolutionary advantage may be conferred through the generation of genetic diversity by gene conversion between native and foreign copies. Conversely, a few cases of nuclear HGT in plants involve functional transfers of novel genes that resulted in adaptive evolution. Direct cell-to-cell contact between plants (e.g. host-parasite relationships or natural grafting) facilitate the exchange of genetic material, in which HGT has been reported for both nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, and in the form of genomic DNA, instead of RNA. A thorough review of the literature indicates that HGT in mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of angiosperms is much more frequent than previously expected and that the evolutionary impact and mechanisms underlying plant-to-plant HGT remain to be uncovered.Fil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentin

Life history, development and karyology of Klebsormidium nitens (Klebsormidiales, Charophyta)

Se estudiaron las células vegetativas y reproductivas de Klebsormidium nitens, primera cita para la República Argentina. La identificación de la especie se realizó utilizando caracteres morfológicos, hábito de crecimiento, la forma de apertura de los zoosporangios, forma de germinación de las zoósporas y el modo de reproducción. Con respecto a su ciclo de vida, la forma de reproducción más frecuente fue la vegetativa, por simple fragmentación del talo en filamentos cortos. Bajo condiciones adversas se produjeron pseudoramificaciones, a partir de las cuales se originaron nuevos filamentos. La reproducción asexual fue inducida “in vitro”. Zoósporas biflageladas con inserción subapical de los flagelos salieron por un poro lateral. Las zoósporas después de nadar unos minutos retrajeron los flagelos y la germinación fue estrictamente unipolar. La célula basal presentó un rudimentario pie de fijación acompañado de un delicado disco de fijación mucilaginoso; sucesivas mitosis y citocinesis originaron un filamento, el cual pasó a vida planctónica al superar las ocho células. La ausencia de un pie de fijación ha sido considerada hasta el momento un carácter diagnóstico del género; la presencia de dicho pie en K. nitens sugiere que la validez de este carácter para definir el género debería ser revisada. No se verificó reproducción sexual. El número cromosómico hallado en K. nitens fue n = 6. Comparaciones entre el número cromosómico, el tamaño del núcleo y el ancho del filamento con otras especies de Klebsormidium sugiere un número básico x = 6 y a la poliploidía como uno de los procesos involucrados en la evolución de las especies del género.This research is focused on the study of Klebsormidium nitens vegetative and reproductive cells. The following aspects have been considered for the identification of this species, which is a new record for Argentina: morphological characters, growth habits, aperture of zoosporangial cells, zoospore germination patterns and types of reproduction. As regards its life cycle, vegetative multiplication through an easy fragmentation of the thallus into short filaments was the prevailing mode of reproduction. Under adverse conditions, false (or pseudo) branches were formed from which new filaments were born. Asexual reproduction was induced “in vitro”. Biflagellate zoospores with subapically inserted flagella came out from a pore in the lateral wall of sporangial cells. After swimming for a few minutes, zoospores withdrew the flagella, and germination was strictly unipolar. The basal cell presented a rudimentary holdfast with a fine mucilaginous attaching disc. After successive mitosis and cytokinesis a filament was formed which became planctonic after an eight-celled stage. The absence of a holdfast has so far been considered a diagnostic character of the genus, and for this reason the reconsideration of this feature at the generic level has been proposed. Sexual reproduction was not observed. The chromosome number found in K. nitens was n=6. A comparison among chromosome number, nucleus size and filament width with other species of Klebsormidium suggests a basic chromosome number x=6 and polyploidy as one of the processes involved in the evolution of Klebsormidium species.Fil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Leonardi, Patricia Ines. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Centro de Recursos Naturales Renovables de la Zona Semiárida; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur; Argentin

Comparative and evolutionary analyses of Meloidogyne spp. based on mitochondrial genome sequences

Molecular taxonomy and evolution of nematodes have been recently the focus of several studies. Mitochondrial sequences were proposed as an alternative for precise identification of Meloidogyne species, to study intraspecific variability and to follow maternal lineages. We characterized the mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs) of the root knot nematodes M. floridensis, M. hapla and M. incognita. These were AT rich (81?83%) and highly compact, encoding 12 proteins, 2 rRNAs, and 22 tRNAs. Comparisons with published mtDNAs of M. chitwoodi, M. incognita (another strain) and M. graminicola revealed that they share protein and rRNA gene order but differ in the order of tRNAs. The mtDNAs of M. floridensis and M. incognita were strikingly similar (97-100% identity for all coding regions). In contrast, M. floridensis, M. chitwoodi, M. hapla and M. graminicola showed 65-84% nucleotide identity for coding regions. Variable mitochondrial sequences are potentially useful for evolutionary and taxonomic studies. We developed a molecular taxonomic marker by sequencing a highly-variable ~2 kb mitochondrial region, nad5-cox1, from 36 populations of root-knot nematodes to elucidate relationships within the genus Meloidogyne. Isolates of five species formed monophyletic groups and showed little intraspecific variability. We also present a thorough analysis of the mitochondrial region cox2-rrnS. Phylogenies based on either mitochondrial region had good discrimination power but could not discriminate between M. arenaria, M. incognita and M. floridensis.Fil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; Argentin

Characterization of a root-knot nematode population of Meloidogyne arenaria from Tupungato (Mendoza, Argentina)

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are polyphagous plant parasites of global importance. Successful host infection depends on the particular interaction between a specific nematode species and race and a specific plant species and cultivar. Accurate diagnosis of nematode species is relevant to effective agricultural management; and benefits further from understanding the variability within a single nematode species. Here, we described a population of M. arenaria race 2 from Mendoza (Argentina). This study represents the first morphometric, morphological, biochemical, reproductive, molecular, and host range characterization of a root-knot nematode species from Argentina. Even after gathering morphological and morphometric data of this population and partially sequencing its rRNA, an unequivocal taxonomic assignment could not be achieved. The most decisive data was provided by esterase phenotyping and molecular methods using SCARs. These results highlight the importance of taking a multidimensional approach for Meloidogyne spp. diagnosis. This study contributes to the understanding of the variability of morphological, reproductive and molecular traits of M. arenaria, and provides data on the identification of root-knot nematodes on tomato cultivars from Argentina.Fil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentin

Evolution and mechanism of the mitochondrial cox1 intron horizontal transfer in Angiosperms

The most frequent case of horizontal gene transfer in angiosperms involves the group I intron in the cox1 mitochondrial gene, originally acquired from a fungal donor and followed by more than 100 subsequent inferred plant-to-plant transfer events. This promiscuous behaviour is thought to be due to its encoded DNA homing endonuclease, whose cleavage site is in cox1 intron-less alleles. The study of homologous introns in yeast suggests that intron insertion occurs through the double-strand break repair (DSBR) pathway without crossover, process called intron homing. So, this mechanism has been proposed to participate in angiosperms cox1 intron propagation. However, other repair mechanisms supposed to occur in plant mitochondria could participate. These mechanisms can be distinguished because they are supposed to generate crossovers (CO) and/or non-crossovers (NCO) in different proportions. In order to detect possible alternative repair mechanisms involved in cox1 intron propagation, we analyzed 139 angiosperm species with the intron. The analysis consisted in the identificationof CO and NCO events comparing exon1, exon2 and intron phylogenetic relationships. When sequences were available the analyses was extended to intergenic regions flanking the exons. In contrast with original DSBR model, where COs and NCOs are expected to occur in similar proportions, only NCO events where detected in our analyses. We propose an alternative repair pathway called synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA), which can only produce NCO results, as the most probable mechanism involved in the cox1 intron propagation in angiosperms.Fil: Ceriotti, Luis Federico. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaEastern Regional MeetingMontrealCanadáCanadian Society of Plant BiologistsMcGill Universit

Male sterility and somatic hybridization in plant breeding

Plant male sterility refers to the failure in the production of fertile pollen. It occurs spon-taneously in natural populations and may be caused by genes encoded in the nuclear (genicmale sterility; GMS) or mitochondrial (cytoplasmic male sterility; CMS) genomes. Thisfeature has great agronomic value for the production of hybrid seeds, since it prevents self-pollination without the need of emasculation which is time-consuming and cost-intensive.CMS has been widely used in crops, such as corn, rice, wheat, citrus, and several speciesof the family Solanaceae. Mitochondrial genes determining CMS have been uncovered ina wide range of plant species. The modes of action of CMS have been classified in terms ofthe effect they produce in the cell, which ultimately leads to a failure in the production offertile pollen. Male fertility can be restored by nuclear-encoded genes, termed restorer-of-fertility (Rf) factors. CMS from wild plants has been transferred to species of agronomicinterest through somatic hybridization. Somatic hybrids have also been produced togenerate CMS de novo upon recombination of the mitochondrial genomes of two parentalplants or by separating the CMS cytoplasm from the nuclear Rf alleles. As a result, somatichybridization can be used as a highly efficient and useful strategy to incorporate CMS inbreeding programs.Fil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo; ArgentinaFil: Edera, Alejandro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Marfil, Carlos Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentin

The complete organelle genomes of Physochlaina orientalis: Insights into short sequence repeats across seed plant mitochondrial genomes

Short repeats (SR)play an important role in shaping seed plant mitochondrial genomes (mtDNAs). However, their origin, distribution, and relationships across the different plant lineages remain unresolved. We focus on the angiosperm family Solanaceae that shows great variation in repeat content and extend the study to a wide diversity of seed plants. We determined the complete nucleotide sequences of the organellar genomes of the medicinal plant Physochlaina orientalis (Solanaceae), member of the tribe Hyoscyameae. To understand the evolution of the P. orientalis mtDNA we made comparisons with those of five other Solanaceae. P. orientalis mtDNA presents the largest mitogenome (∼685 kb in size)among the Solanaceae and has an unprecedented 8-copy repeat family of ∼8.2 kb in length and a great number of SR arranged in tandem-like structures. We found that the SR in the Solanaceae share a common origin, but these only expanded in members of the tribe Hyoscyameae. We discuss a mechanism that could explain SR formation and expansion in P. orientalis and Hyoscyamus niger. Finally, the great increase in plant mitochondrial data allowed us to systematically extend our repeat analysis to a total of 136 seed plants to characterize and analyze for the first time families of SR among seed plant mtDNAs.Fil: Gandini, Carolina Lia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Abbona, Cinthia Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Tecnologica Nacional. Facultad Reg.san Rafael. Instituto de Evolucion, Ecologia Historica y Ambiente. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Evolucion, Ecologia Historica y Ambiente.; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentin

Native and foreign mitochondrial and nuclear encoded proteins conform the OXPHOS complexes of a holoparasitic plant

The intimate contact between the holoparasitic plant Lophophytum mirabile (Balanophoraceae) and its host plant (Fabaceae) facilitates the exchange of genetic information, increasing the frequency of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Lophophytum stands out because it acquired a large number of mitochondrial genes (greater than 20) from its legume host that replaced the majority of the native homologs. These foreign genes code for proteins that form multisubunit enzyme complexes, such as those in the oxidative phosphorylation system (OXPHOS) and cytochrome c maturation (ccm) system, together with dozens of nuclear-encoded subunits. However, the existence and the origin of the nuclear subunits that form the major part of the OXPHOS and ccm system in Lophophytum remain unknown. It was proposed that nuclear-encoding genes whose products interact with foreign mitochondrial proteins are also foreign, minimizing the incompatibilities that could arise in the assembly and functioning of these multiprotein complexes. We identified a nearly complete set of OXPHOS and ccm system subunits evolving under selective constraints in the transcriptome of Lophophytum, indicating that OXPHOS is functional and resembles that of free-living angiosperms. Maximum Likelihood phylogenetic analyses revealed a single case of HGT in the nuclear genes, which results in mosaic OXPHOS and ccm system in Lophophytum. These observations raise new questions about the evolution and physiology of this parasitic plant. A putative case of cooperation between two foreign (one mitochondrial and one nuclear) genes is presented.Fil: Gatica Soria, Leonardo Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Ceriotti, Luis Federico. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Biología; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentin

Cambio en el codigo genético y alto contenido de at en genomas plastídicos de dos plantas holoparásitas (Balanophoraceae)

La familia Balanophoraceae (orden Santalales) comprende 14 géneros de plantas holoparasitas de raíces (i.e. plantas no-fotosintéticas y completamente dependientes de su hospedador). En el presente estudio, se ensamblo el genoma plastídico completo y parcial de Ombrophytum subterraneum y Lophophytum mirabile (Balanophoraceae), respectivamente, a partir de la secuenciación masiva de ADN total con la tecnología Illumina. El ensamble de las regiones plastídicas se llevo a cabo en base a las lecturas apareadas utilizando diversas estrategias debido a la complejidad de dicha tarea. Al igual que en otras angiospermas no-fotosintéticas, los genomas plastídicos se caracterizaron por presentar un alto grado de reducción en tamaño y contenido génico, y altos niveles de contenido de AT. Las regiones plastídicas de L. mirabile y O. subterraneum mostraron un contenido de AT de 79,55% y 85,9% en promedio, respectivamente, lo cual dificulto la secuenciación y el posterior ensamble. Los genes que codifican ARN ribosomal y diversas proteínas fueron identificados por genómica comparativa y mostraron altas tasas de sustitución. A partir de la comparación de las secuencias genómicas y del transcriptoma de L. mirabile obtenido por RNAseq, no se observo edición en los transcriptos plastídicos de L. mirabile. Además, se identificó un cambio en el código genético diferente, en el cual el codón TGA (típicamente un codón de stop) codifica para triptofano. Este representa el segundo cambio en el código genético en genomas plastídicos de plantas terrestres.Fil: Ceriotti, Luis Federico. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Roulet, Maria Emilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Garcia, Laura Evangelina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaIII Reunion Argentina de Biologia EvolutivaCiudad Autonoma de Buenos AiresArgentinaUniversidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturale

Multiple recent horizontal transfers of the cox1 intron in Solanaceae and extended co-conversion of flanking exons

Background: The most frequent case of horizontal transfer in plants involves a group I intron in the mitochondrial gene cox1, which has been acquired via some 80 separate plant-to-plant transfer events among 833 diverse angiosperms examined. This homing intron encodes an endonuclease thought to promote the intron´s promiscuous behavior. A promising experimental approach to study endonuclease activity and intron transmission involves somatic cell hybridization, which in plants leads to mitochondrial fusion and genome recombination. However, the cox1 intron has not yet been found in the ideal group for plant somatic genetics - the Solanaceae. We therefore undertook an extensive survey of this family to find members with the intron and to learn more about the evolutionary history of this exceptionally mobile genetic element. Results: Although 409 of the 426 species of Solanaceae examined lack the cox1 intron, it is uniformly present in three phylogenetically disjunct clades. Despite strong overall incongruence of cox1 intron phylogeny with angiosperm phylogeny, two of these clades possess nearly identical intron sequences and are monophyletic in intron phylogeny. These two clades, and possibly the third also, contain a co-conversion tract (CCT) downstream of the intron that is extended relative to all previously recognized CCTs in angiosperm cox1. Re-examination of all published cox1 genes uncovered additional cases of extended co-conversion and identified a rare case of putative intron loss, accompanied by full retention of the CCT. Conclusions: We infer that the cox1 intron was separately and recently acquired by at least three different lineages of Solanaceae. The striking identity of the intron and CCT from two of these lineages suggests that one of these three intron captures may have occurred by a within-family transfer event. This is consistent with previous evidence that horizontal transfer in plants is biased towards phylogenetically local events. The discovery of extended co-conversion suggests that other cox1 conversions may be longer than realized but obscured by the exceptional conservation of plant mitochondrial sequences. Our findings provide further support for the rampant-transfer model of cox1 intron evolution and recommend the Solanaceae as a model system for the experimental analysis of cox1 intron transfer in plants.Fil: Sánchez Puerta, María Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Abbona, Cinthia Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mendoza. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias. Instituto de Biología Agrícola de Mendoza; ArgentinaFil: Zhuo, Shi. Indiana University; Estados UnidosFil: Tepe, Eric J.. University of Cincinnati; Estados Unidos. University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Bohs, Lynn. University of Utah; Estados UnidosFil: Olmstead, Richard G.. University of Washington; Estados UnidosFil: Palmer, Jeffrey D.. Indiana University; Estados Unido