Abstract Detail

Systematics Section

Lam, Vivienne [1], Rai, Hardeep [2], Leebens-Mack, James H. [3], Givnish, Thomas J. [4], Davis, Jerrold I. [5], Stevenson, Dennis Wm. [6], Pires, J. Chris [7], Petersen, Gitte [8], Seberg, Ole [8], dePamphilis, Claude W. [9], Zomlefer, Wendy B [10], Ané, Cecile [11], Graham, Sean W. [12].

Retention of plastid genes in mycoheterotrophic monocots.

Mycoheterotrophy is a unique tripartite symbiosis between a heterotroph, autotroph and fungi, that in its most extreme cases has led to the loss of photosynthesis in the heterotrophic partner. It has arisen multiple times, but most abundantly in the monocots: mycoheterotrophs in Burmanniaceae, Corsiaceae, Iridaceae, Orchidaceae, Petrosaviaceae, Thismiaceae, and Triuridaceae comprise approximately 88% of all land-plant representatives. Consequences of the transition from a fully autotrophic to a mycoheterotrophic lifestyle are evident in the frequent loss and degradation of photosynthetic genes, such as the Rubisco large subunit (rbcL). Consequently, nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data are commonly used to place mycoheterotrophic in the broad backbone of plant phylogeny. However, retention of some essential, non-photosynthetic plastid genes provides an additional potential source of information on the phylogenetic placement of mycoheterotrophic plants, in addition to providing insights into plastome function and evolution. Our approach is to retrieve sequence data from residual plastid genes in these plants. So far, we have retrieved acetyl-coA (accD) and serine protease (clpP) genes for a range of non-orchid monocot mycoheterotrophs, and their green relatives. We have retrieved accD for mycoheterophic genera in the following families: Burmanniaceae (4 genera), Corsiaceae (1), Petrosaviaceae (1), Thismiaceae (2), and Triuridaceae (1), and have retrieved clpP from Burmanniaceae (2 genera), Petrosaviaceae (1), and Triuridaceae (1). We have also been successful at retrieving a number of additional non-photosynthetic and photosynthetic genes for Petrosavia sp. (Petrosaviaceae) and Burmannia capitata, further demonstrating that there may be a wealth of phylogenetically informative plastid data yet to be recovered from these elusive and enigmatic plants.

Broader Impacts:

1 - University of British Columbia, UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research, 6804 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada
2 - Harvard University, Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
3 - University of Georgia, Department of Plant Biology, 4504 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
4 - University of Wisconsin Madison, Department of Botany, Birge Hall, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706-1381, USA
5 - Cornell University, L.H. Bailey Hortorium, Department of Plant Biology, Ithaca, New York, 14853, USA
6 - New York Botanical Garden, Institute of Systematic Botany, 200Th Street & Southern Boulevard, Bronx, New York, 10458-5126, USA
7 - University of Missouri Columbia, Biological Sciences, 1201 Rollins Road, Life Sciences Center 311, Columbia, Missouri, 65211, USA
8 - Natural History Museum of Denmark, Sølvgade 83, Opg. S, Copenhagen, DK-1307, Denmark
9 - Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biology, Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, and The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA
10 -
11 - University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Botany, 430 Lincoln Drive, Madison, WI, 53706
12 - University of British Columbia, Botanical Garden And Centre For Plant Research, 6804 Sw Marine Drive, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6T 1Z4, Canada

Keywords:
mycoheterotrophy
Plastid
Thismiaceae
Burmanniaceae
Petrosaviaceae
Triuridaceae
accD
clpP
Chloroplast gene evolution.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 6
Location: 555A/Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 2nd, 2010
Time: 8:45 AM
Number: 6002
Abstract ID:702