| 1. |
- Merckx, Vincent S. F. T., et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of endemismon a young tropical mountain
- 2015
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 524:7565, s. 347-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tropical mountains are hot spots of biodiversity and endemism(1-3), but the evolutionary origins of their unique biotas are poorly understood(4). In varying degrees, local and regional extinction, long-distance colonization, and local recruitment may all contribute to the exceptional character of these communities(5). Also, it is debated whether mountain endemics mostly originate from local lowland taxa, or from lineages that reach the mountain by long-range dispersal from cool localities elsewhere(6). Here we investigate the evolutionary routes to endemism by sampling an entire tropical mountain biota on the 4,095-metre-high Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, East Malaysia. We discover that most of its unique biodiversity is younger than the mountain itself (6 million years), and comprises a mix of immigrant pre-adapted lineages and descendants from local lowland ancestors, although substantial shifts from lower to higher vegetation zones in this latter group were rare. These insights could improve forecasts of the likelihood of extinction and 'evolutionary rescue'(7) in montane biodiversity hot spots under climate change scenarios.
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| 2. |
- Salgado, Marco, 1981-
(författare)
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The actinorhizal plant Datisca glomerata : interpreting its symbiotic adaptations by omics-based comparisons with model and non-model organisms
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nitrogen is the element that most often limits plant growth and development. Common agricultural practices rely on the application of large quantities of industrially-produced nitrogen fertilizer, which poses a worldwide environmental threat. Sustainable agriculture encourages the use of biologically fixed nitrogen. However, access to this is still limited to a restricted group of dicotyledonous plants that share among them the ability to form a root nodule symbiosis. After an intricate molecular dialogue, these plants accommodate in the cells of a newly root-derived organ - the nodule - a class of bacteria that produce the nitrogenase enzyme by which they are able to reduce di-nitrogen from air to bioavailable ammonia. This mutualism allows the plant access to nitrogen in exchange for carbon. This thesis focuses particularly on the actinorhizal symbioses established between the North American plant Datisca glomerata (Datiscaceae, Cucurbitales) and Frankia actinobacteria from cluster II (Frankiaceae, Frankiales).The main aim of this thesis was to improve our understanding about the genetic basis underlying the evolution of root nodule symbioses. Genome-wide comparative analysis indicated that the loss or fragmentation of genes coding for Nodule Inception (NIN) and/or Rhizobium-directed Polar Growth was a major event for the loss of nodulation in close relatives of plants that are able to form a root nodule symbiosis. To acquire more information about the requirements in plant adaptations to meet a symbiosis with Frankia cluster II strains, the nodule transcriptome of D. glomerata was compared with that of Ceanothus thyrsiflorus (Rhamnaceae, Rosales). This study suggested that cluster II Frankia strains use lipochitooligosaccharide Nod factors to signal to their host plants. In addition, it suggested that the nitrogen metabolism likely differs between these symbioses: while transcript profiles from nodules of D. glomerata supports pathways for arginine catabolism, which was previously suggested, those from nodules of C. thyrsiflorus support pathways for asparagine biosynthesis. Since nodules of both plants house Frankia strains from cluster II, the differences in nitrogen metabolism are most likely a feature of the host plant and not of the bacterial symbiont.As part of an approach to establish D. glomerata as a model organism for actinorhizal Cucurbitales, the effects of phytohormones towards expression of genes putatively involved in signaling for nodule development were investigated. In D. glomerata, similarly to legume plants, the phytohormones cytokinin and auxin were proposed to play a central role in nodule development as they exert a positive effect on the expression of NIN as well as on that of genes whose promoters are presumably transactivated by NIN.Furthermore, transporter proteins expressed in nodules of D. glomerata and of Casuarina glauca (Casuarinaceae, Fagales), which probably act in supplying C-metabolites to intracellular Frankia, were characterized for their substrate specificity. Results indicated that citrate, and not malate, might be the C-metabolite supplied to both Candidatus Frankia datiscae Dg1 and Frankia casuarinae CcI3 strains in symbiosis.To explore the option of D. glomerata-mediated control towards its microsymbiont, a nodule-specific defensin-like peptide was characterized (DgDef1). Whereas DgDef1 acts as an antimicrobial peptide against Gram-negative strains in a range compatible with a role in symbiosis, no differentiation was shown in assays with the Gram-positive Streptomyces coelicolor. Nonetheless, DgDef1 induced changes in membrane integrity of the legume symbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 as well as in its transcription profile, e.g., on transcription of genes associated with dicarboxylate uptake. Thus, a role for DgDef1 in acting against ineffective microsymbionts is suggested. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that actinorhizal nodule-specific defensins and legume nodule-specific cysteine-rich peptides share a common origin, which in an evolutionary scenario of symbiont shift leads to the hypothesis that these peptides have been lost in most legumes lineages.Collectively, the data presented in this thesis support the idea that root nodule symbioses share more mechanisms than previously assumed, e.g., in the defense against ineffective microsymbionts (“bacterial cheaters”), supporting the new paradigm that the common ancestor of legumes and actinorhizal plants had evolved a symbiosis that was later lost in most lineages.
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| 3. |
- Shen, Defeng, et al.
(författare)
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A Homeotic Mutation Changes Legume Nodule Ontogeny into Actinorhizal-Type Ontogeny
- 2020
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Ingår i: The Plant Cell. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1040-4651 .- 1532-298X. ; 32:6, s. 1868-1885
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A homeotic mutation in Medicago truncatula NODULE ROOT1 converts legume-type nodules into actinorhizal-type nodules, suggesting that the two nodule types have a shared evolutionary origin. Some plants fix atmospheric nitrogen by hosting symbiotic diazotrophic rhizobia or Frankia bacteria in root organs known as nodules. Such nodule symbiosis occurs in 10 plant lineages in four taxonomic orders: Fabales, Fagales, Cucurbitales, and Rosales, which are collectively known as the nitrogen-fixing clade. Nodules are divided into two types based on differences in ontogeny and histology: legume-type and actinorhizal-type nodules. The evolutionary relationship between these nodule types has been a long-standing enigma for molecular and evolutionary biologists. Recent phylogenomic studies on nodulating and nonnodulating species in the nitrogen-fixing clade indicated that the nodulation trait has a shared evolutionary origin in all 10 lineages. However, this hypothesis faces a conundrum in that legume-type and actinorhizal-type nodules have been regarded as fundamentally different. Here, we analyzed the actinorhizal-type nodules formed by Parasponia andersonii (Rosales) and Alnus glutinosa (Fagales) and found that their ontogeny is more similar to that of legume-type nodules (Fabales) than generally assumed. We also show that in Medicago truncatula, a homeotic mutation in the co-transcriptional regulator gene NODULE ROOT1 (MtNOOT1) converts legume-type nodules into actinorhizal-type nodules. These experimental findings suggest that the two nodule types have a shared evolutionary origin.
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| 4. |
- Shen, Defeng, et al.
(författare)
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The BOP-type co-transcriptional regulator NODULE ROOT1 promotes stem secondary growth of the tropical Cannabaceae tree Parasponia andersonii
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Plant Journal. - : John Wiley & Sons. - 0960-7412 .- 1365-313X. ; 106:5, s. 1366-1386
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Tree stems undergo a massive secondary growth in which secondary xylem and phloem tissues arise from the vascular cambium. Vascular cambium activity is driven by endogenous developmental signalling cues and environmental stimuli. Current knowledge regarding the genetic regulation of cambium activity and secondary growth is still far from complete. The tropical Cannabaceae tree Parasponia andersonii is a non-legume research model of nitrogen-fixing root nodulation. Parasponia andersonii can be transformed efficiently, making it amenable for CRISPR-Cas9-mediated reverse genetics. We considered whether P. andersonii also could be used as a complementary research system to investigate tree-related traits, including secondary growth. We established a developmental map of stem secondary growth in P. andersonii plantlets. Subsequently, we showed that the expression of the co-transcriptional regulator PanNODULE ROOT1 (PanNOOT1) is essential for controlling this process. PanNOOT1 is orthologous to Arabidopsis thaliana BLADE-ON-PETIOLE1 (AtBOP1) and AtBOP2, which are involved in the meristem-to-organ-boundary maintenance. Moreover, in species forming nitrogen-fixing root nodules, NOOT1 is known to function as a key nodule identity gene. Parasponia andersonii CRISPR-Cas9 loss-of-function Pannoot1 mutants are altered in the development of the xylem and phloem tissues without apparent disturbance of the cambium organization and size. Transcriptomic analysis showed that the expression of key secondary growth-related genes is significantly down-regulated in Pannoot1 mutants. This allows us to conclude that PanNOOT1 positively contributes to the regulation of stem secondary growth. Our work also demonstrates that P. andersonii can serve as a tree research system.
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