scholarly journals The complex origins of strigolactone signalling in land plants

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Bythell-Douglas ◽  
Carl J. Rothfels ◽  
Dennis W.D. Stevenson ◽  
Sean W. Graham ◽  
Gane Ka-Shu Wong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homology Modelling ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Protein Partners ◽  
Strigolactone Signalling ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACTStrigolactones (SLs) are a class of plant hormones that control many aspects of plant growth. The SL signalling mechanism is homologous to that of karrikins (KARs), smoke-derived compounds that stimulate seed germination. In angiosperms, the SL receptor is an α/β hydrolase known as DWARF14 (D14); its close homologue, KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE2 (KAI2), functions as a KAR receptor, and likely recognizes an uncharacterized, endogenous signal. Previous phylogenetic analyses have suggested that the KAI2 lineage is ancestral in land plants, and that canonical D14-type SL receptors only arose in seed plants; this is paradoxical, however, as non-vascular plants synthesize and respond to SLs. Here, we have used a combination of phylogenetic and structural approaches to re-assess the evolution of the D14/KAI2 family in land plants. We analyzed 339 members of the D14/KAI2 family from land plants and charophyte algae. Our phylogenetic analyses show that the divergence between the eu-KAI2 lineage and the DDK (D14/DLK2/KAI2) lineage that includes D14 occurred very early in land plant evolution. We identify characteristic structural features of D14 and KAI2 proteins, and use homology modelling to show that the earliest members of the DDK lineage structurally resemble KAI2, and not D14 proteins. Furthermore, we show that probable SL receptors in non-seed plants do not have D14-like structure. Our results suggest that SL perception has relatively relaxed structural requirements, and that the evolution from KAI2-like to D14-like protein structure in the DDK lineage may have been driven by interactions with protein partners, rather than being required for SL perception itself.

scholarly journals The Sequenced Genomes of Non-Seed Land Plants Reveal the (R)Evolutionary History of Peptide Signaling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chihiro Furumizu ◽  
Anders K. Krabberød ◽  
Marta Hammerstad ◽  
Renate M. Alling ◽  
Mari Wildhagen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Tissue ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Cell Communication ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Molecular Signaling ◽  
Terrestrial Plants ◽  
Peptide Signaling

AbstractAn understanding of land plant evolution is a prerequisite for in-depth knowledge of plant biology. Here we illustrate how to extract and explore information hidden in the increasing number of sequenced plant genomes, from bryophytes to angiosperms, to elucidate a specific biological question – how peptide signaling evolved. To conquer land and cope with changing environmental conditions, plants have gone through profound transformations that must have required a revolution in cell-to-cell communication. Peptides can act as signals of endogenous and exogenous changes, and interactions with leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases activate intracellular molecular signaling. Signaling peptides are typically active in organs like flowers and seeds, vascular tissue, root and shoot meristems, which are absent in the most primitive land plants. However, putative orthologues for several peptide-receptor pairs have been identified in non-seed land plants. These discoveries and elucidation of co-evolution of such ligands and their receptors, have profound implications for the understanding of evolution and diversity of cell-to-cell communication, as de novo interactions in peptide signaling pathways may have contributed to generate novel traits in land plants. Phylogenetic analyses, genomic, structural and functional data can guide us to reveal evolutionary steps that laid the foundation for a wealth of diversified terrestrial plants.

scholarly journals Sequencing of small RNAs of the fern Pleopeltis minima (Polypodiaceae) offers insight into the evolution of the microRNA repertoire in land plants

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florencia Berruezo ◽  
Flavio S. J. de Souza ◽  
Pablo I. Picca ◽  
Sergio I. Nemirovsky ◽  
Leandro Martinez-Tosar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Rna ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Messenger Rnas ◽  
Rna Molecules ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Mirna Genes ◽  
Ecological Importance

AbstractMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short, single stranded RNA molecules that regulate the stability and translation of messenger RNAs in diverse eukaryotic groups. Several miRNA genes are of ancient origin and have been maintained in the genomes of animal and plant taxa for hundreds of millions of years, and functional studies indicate that ancient miRNAs play key roles in development and physiology. In the last decade, genome and small RNA (sRNA) sequencing of several plant species have helped unveil the evolutionary history of land plant miRNAs. Land plants are divided into bryophytes (liverworts, mosses), lycopods (clubmosses and spikemosses), monilophytes (ferns and horsetails), gymnosperms (cycads, conifers and allies) and angiosperms (flowering plants). Among these, the fern group occupies a key phylogenetic position, since it represents the closest extant cousin taxon of seed plants, i.e. gymno- and angiosperms. However, in spite of their evolutionary, economic and ecological importance, no fern genome has been sequenced yet and few genomic resources are available for this group. Here, we sequenced the small RNA fraction of an epiphytic South American fern, Pleopeltis minima (Polypodiaceae), and compared it to plant miRNA databases, allowing for the identification of miRNA families that are shared by all land plants, shared by all vascular plants (tracheophytes) or shared by euphyllophytes (ferns and seed plants) only. Using the recently described transcriptome of another fern, Lygodium japonicum, we also estimated the degree of conservation of fern miRNA targets in relation to other plant groups. Our results pinpoint the origin of several miRNA families in the land plant evolutionary tree with more precision and are a resource for future genomic and functional studies of fern miRNAs.

Age of the Cedarberg Formation, South Africa and early land plant evolution

1986 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 445-454 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Gray ◽  
J. N. Theron ◽  
A. J. Boucot
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Table Mountain ◽  
Plant Remains ◽  
First Occurrence ◽  
Land Plant Evolution ◽  
Early Land

AbstractThe first occurrence of Early Paleozoic land plants is reported from South Africa. The plant remains are small, compact tetrahedral spore tetrads. They occur abundantly in the Soom Shale Member of the Cedarberg Formation, Table Mountain Group. Marine? phytoplankton (sphaeromorphs or leiospheres) occur with the spore tetrads in all samples. Rare chitinozoans are found in half the samples. Together with similar spore tetrads from the Paraná Basin (Gray et al. 1985) these are the first well-documented records of Ashgill and/or earlier Llandovery land plants from the Malvinokaffric Realm, and from the African continent south of Libya. These spore tetrads have botanical, evolutionary, and biogeographic significance. Their size in comparison with spore tetrads from stratigraphic sections throughout eastern North America, suggests that an earliest Llandovery age is more probable for the Soom Shale Member, although a latest Ordovician age cannot be discounted. The age of the brachiopods in the overlying Disa Siltstone Member has been in contention for over a decade. Both Ashgillian and Early Llandovery ages have been proposed. The age of the underlying Soom Shale Member based on plant spores and trilobites (earliest Llandovery or latest Ashgillian) suggests that the Disa Siltstone Member is also likely to be of Early Llandovery age, although the distance between the Soom Shale Member spore-bearing locality and rocks to the south yielding abundant invertebrate body fossils at one locality is great enough to permit diachroneity.

scholarly journals Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events

1998 ◽  
Vol 353 (1365) ◽  
pp. 113-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Algeo ◽  
Stephen E. Scheckler
Keyword(s):  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Chemical Weathering ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Root Penetration ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Weathering Processes

The Devonian Period was characterized by major changes in both the terrestrial biosphere, e.g. the evolution of trees and seed plants and the appearance of multi–storied forests, and in the marine biosphere, e.g. an extended biotic crisis that decimated tropical marine benthos, especially the stromatoporoid–tabulate coral reef community. Teleconnections between these terrestrial and marine events are poorly understood, but a key may lie in the role of soils as a geochemical interface between the lithosphere and atmosphere/hydrosphere, and the role of land plants in mediating weathering processes at this interface. The effectiveness of terrestrial floras in weathering was significantly enhanced as a consequence of increases in the size and geographic extent of vascular land plants during the Devonian. In this regard, the most important palaeobotanical innovations were (1) arborescence (tree stature), which increased maximum depths of root penetration and rhizoturbation, and (2) the seed habit, which freed land plants from reproductive dependence on moist lowland habitats and allowed colonization of drier upland and primary successional areas. These developments resulted in a transient intensification of pedogenesis (soil formation) and to large increases in the thickness and areal extent of soils. Enhanced chemical weathering may have led to increased riverine nutrient fluxes that promoted development of eutrophic conditions in epicontinental seaways, resulting in algal blooms, widespread bottomwater anoxia, and high sedimentary organic carbon fluxes. Long–term effects included drawdown of atmospheric pCO 2 and global cooling, leading to a brief Late Devonian glaciation, which set the stage for icehouse conditions during the Permo–Carboniferous. This model provides a framework for understanding links between early land plant evolution and coeval marine anoxic and biotic events, but further testing of Devonian terrestrial–marine teleconnections is needed.

scholarly journals The timescale of early land plant evolution

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (10) ◽  
pp. E2274-E2283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Morris ◽  
Mark N. Puttick ◽  
James W. Clark ◽  
Dianne Edwards ◽  
Paul Kenrick ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Clock ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Early Land Plant ◽  
Land Plant Evolution ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Earth’S System ◽  
Early Land

Establishing the timescale of early land plant evolution is essential for testing hypotheses on the coevolution of land plants and Earth’s System. The sparseness of early land plant megafossils and stratigraphic controls on their distribution make the fossil record an unreliable guide, leaving only the molecular clock. However, the application of molecular clock methodology is challenged by the current impasse in attempts to resolve the evolutionary relationships among the living bryophytes and tracheophytes. Here, we establish a timescale for early land plant evolution that integrates over topological uncertainty by exploring the impact of competing hypotheses on bryophyte−tracheophyte relationships, among other variables, on divergence time estimation. We codify 37 fossil calibrations for Viridiplantae following best practice. We apply these calibrations in a Bayesian relaxed molecular clock analysis of a phylogenomic dataset encompassing the diversity of Embryophyta and their relatives within Viridiplantae. Topology and dataset sizes have little impact on age estimates, with greater differences among alternative clock models and calibration strategies. For all analyses, a Cambrian origin of Embryophyta is recovered with highest probability. The estimated ages for crown tracheophytes range from Late Ordovician to late Silurian. This timescale implies an early establishment of terrestrial ecosystems by land plants that is in close accord with recent estimates for the origin of terrestrial animal lineages. Biogeochemical models that are constrained by the fossil record of early land plants, or attempt to explain their impact, must consider the implications of a much earlier, middle Cambrian–Early Ordovician, origin.

Morphometric analysis of Rhynia and Asteroxylon: testing functional aspects of early land plant evolution

Paleobiology ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Roth-Nebelsick ◽  
G. Grimm ◽  
V. Mosbrugger ◽  
H. Hass ◽  
H. Kerp
Keyword(s):  
Water Transport ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Cross Sectional Area ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Vascular Bundles ◽  
Sectional Area ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Early Land

New morphometric data gathered from cross-sections of two Lower Devonian land plants (Rhynia gwynne-vaughanii and Asteroxylon mackiei) are interpreted in terms of the evolution of the function of vascular bundles in early land plants. The following conclusions can be drawn from these new data: (1) The ratio of the cross-sectional area of the xylem (representing the conducting volume supplying the axis with water) to the xylem perimeter (representing the “contact area” between xylem and parenchyma through which water leaves the xylem and enters the parenchyma) is not constant for Rhynia axes, almost constant for Asteroxylon axes, and different between Rhynia and Asteroxylon. Thus, Bowers hypothesis that the ratio of cross-sectional area of the xylem to xylem perimeter is constant during ontogenetic development is true for Asteroxylon. That this ratio is constant during phylogeny, however, is not supported by our data. (2) The ratio between cross-sectional area of xylem to parenchyma is higher in Asteroxylon than in Rhynia. (3) As predicted by previous computer simulations, the ratio of the xylem perimeter to the axis perimeter plays a major role in determining water transport performance of the transpiring axis. This ratio is constant within ontogeny but is different in Asteroxylon and Rhynia. In Asteroxylon axes, this ratio is about twice as large as in Rhynia axes. (4) Contrary to the expectations, the distance between the outermost layer of the xylem and the transpiring surface, which represents the low-conductivity pathway through the parenchyma, appears not to be a limiting factor for the water transport in axes of Rhynia and Asteroxylon. (5) From the analysis of the geometric parameters, it is evident that Rhynia and Asteroxylon with their distinct stelar geometries represent two different constructional types for which no transitional stages are known.

scholarly journals Evolution of Plant Hormone Response Pathways

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 327-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Blázquez ◽  
David C. Nelson ◽  
Dolf Weijers
Keyword(s):  
Signaling Pathways ◽  
Plant Hormone ◽  
Genetic Manipulation ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Model Organisms ◽  
Hormone Signaling ◽  
Plant Hormone Signaling

This review focuses on the evolution of plant hormone signaling pathways. Like the chemical nature of the hormones themselves, the signaling pathways are diverse. Therefore, we focus on a group of hormones whose primary perception mechanism involves an Skp1/Cullin/F-box-type ubiquitin ligase: auxin, jasmonic acid, gibberellic acid, and strigolactone. We begin with a comparison of the core signaling pathways of these four hormones, which have been established through studies conducted in model organisms in the Angiosperms. With the advent of next-generation sequencing and advanced tools for genetic manipulation, the door to understanding the origins of hormone signaling mechanisms in plants beyond these few model systems has opened. For example, in-depth phylogenetic analyses of hormone signaling components are now being complemented by genetic studies in early diverging land plants. Here we discuss recent investigations of how basal land plants make and sense hormones. Finally, we propose connections between the emergence of hormone signaling complexity and major developmental transitions in plant evolution.

scholarly journals An evolutionary conserved lysine acetylation hotspot regulates plant mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase activity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Balparda ◽  
Marlene Elsässer ◽  
Mariana Badia ◽  
Jonas Giese ◽  
Meike Hüdig ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Malate Dehydrogenase ◽  
Physcomitrella Patens ◽  
Homology Modelling ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Lysine Acetylation ◽  
Reduction Activity ◽  
Plant Acclimation ◽  
Mitochondrial Malate Dehydrogenase

AbstractPlants need to be able to rapidly and flexibly adjust their metabolism to changes their immediate environment. Since this necessity results from the sessile lifestyle of land plants, key mechanisms of orchestrating central metabolic acclimation are likely to have evolved early. Here we explore the role of lysine acetylation as a posttranslational modification to directly modulate metabolic function. First, we generate a lysine acetylome of the early divergent land plant Physcomitrium (Physcomitrella) patens. We identify 638 lysine acetylation sites, which were predominant in the mitochondria and plastids. A comparison with different angiosperms, including Arabidopsis thaliana, pinpoints lysine acetylation as conserved strategy in land plants. We focus on modified enzymes involved in mitochondrial central metabolism and select the mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase (mMDH), which acts as a hub of plant metabolic flexibility. In P. patens we detected a unique lysine acetylated site located next to one of the four acetylation sites detected in A. thaliana mMDH1. We assessed the kinetic behavior of recombinant A. thaliana and P. patens mMDHs with site-specifically incorporated acetyllysines. While the sites K325, K329 and K334 do not show any changes in the catalytic properties as assessed by oxaloacetate reduction activity, acetylation of A. thaliana mMDH1 at K170 markedly decreases its activity and acetylation of P. patens mMDH1 at K172 increases it. In both cases, acetylation induces modifications of the turnover number of the enzymes, without modifying the affinity for the substrates. Homology modelling of the mMDH1 proteins reveals a hotspot of lysine acetylation that is distant from the active site and homomerisation interfaces but conserved in land plants. The data reveal lysine acetylation as a strategy to tune the enzymatic properties of central metabolic enzymes with likely impact on metabolic capacity and flexibility to underpin plant acclimation.

Using evolutionary tools to search for novel psychoactive plants

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Halse-Gramkow ◽  
Madeleine Ernst ◽  
Nina Rønsted ◽  
Robert R. Dunn ◽  
C. Haris Saslis-Lagoudakis
Keyword(s):  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Land Plants ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Psychoactive Plants ◽  
Medical Needs ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Unmet Medical Needs

AbstractBioprospecting is the search for valuable products from natural sources. Given that most species are poorly known, a key question is where to search. Ethnodirected bioprospecting approaches use traditional knowledge in the process of selecting plants to screen for desired properties. A complementary approach is to utilize phylogenetic analyses based on traditional uses or known chemistry to identify lineages in which desired properties are most likely to be found. Novel discoveries of plant bioactivity from these approaches can aid the development of treatments for diseases with unmet medical needs. For example, neurological disorders are a growing concern, and psychoactive plants used in traditional medicine may provide botanical sources for bioactivity relevant for treating diseases related to the brain and nervous system. However, no systematic study has explored the diversity and phylogenetic distribution of psychoactive plants. We compiled a database of 501 psychoactive plant species and their properties from published sources. We mapped these plant attributes on a phylogenetic tree of all land plant genera and showed that psychoactive properties are not randomly distributed on the phylogeny of land plants; instead certain plant lineages show overabundance of psychoactive properties. Furthermore, employing a ‘hot nodes’ approach to identify these lineages, we can narrow down our search for novel psychoactive plants to 8.5% of all plant genera for psychoactivity in general and 1–4% for specific categories of psychoactivity investigated. Our results showcase the potential of using a phylogenetic approach to bioprospect plants for psychoactivity and can serve as foundation for future investigations.

scholarly journals STEPWISE ORIGIN AND FUNCTIONAL DIVERSIFICATION OF THE AFL SUBFAMILY B3 GENES DURING LAND PLANT EVOLUTION

2010 ◽  
Vol 08 (supp01) ◽  
pp. 33-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
YANG LI ◽  
KE JIN ◽  
ZHU ZHU ◽  
JI YANG
Keyword(s):  
Seed Development ◽  
Land Plant ◽  
Plant Evolution ◽  
Seed Plants ◽  
Plant Genomes ◽  
Homologous Genes ◽  
Genome Wide ◽  
A Genome ◽  
Land Plant Evolution ◽  
Necessary And Sufficient

The AFL genes (ABI3/VP1, FUS3 and LEC2) belong to the plant-specific B3 superfamily, playing important roles in regulating seed development and maturation. It is unclear, however, whether these genes appeared at the same time as the origin of seed plants and if all these genes are necessary and sufficient for seed development for all seed plants. By conducting a genome-wide comparative analysis of the putative AFL genes in various plant species, we found that the ABI3 homologous genes existed in all land plant genomes, but the FUS3 homologous were present only in seed plant genomes and the LEC2-like sequences only in dicot genomes. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the AFL genes had undergone successive rounds of gene duplication and subsequent diversification during land plant evolution, resulting in the stepwise origin of the ABI3, FUS3 and LEC2 genes. Comparison of gene structure of the AFL genes revealed a trend of decreasing in the number of conserved domains from ABI3 to FUS3 and LEC2.

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