Project description:Germination of seeds of Orobanche species requires specific chemicals exuded by host roots. A family of “divergent” KARRIKIN INSENSITIVE2 (KAI2d) genes encode proteins that recognize strigolactone (SL) class germination simulants. We explored specificity of germination stimulant detection by analyzing interspecific segregants of a cross between Orobanche cernua and O. cumana, closely related species that differ in stimulant response. O. cernua parasitizes tomato and germinates in response to the SL orobanchol, while O. cumana parasitizes sunflower and responds to dehydrocostus lactone (DCL). KAI2d genes were catalogued in parents and in segregants that showed stimulant specificity. KAI2d genes were also functionally assayed in the Arabidopsis kai2 mutant background. We identified five full-length KAI2d genes in O. cernua and eight in O. cumana. The O. cernua KAI2d2, as well as its ortholog in O. cumana, are associated with SL perception. A cluster of O. cumana KAI2d genes was genetically linked to DCL perception, although no specific receptor gene was identified by heterologous complementation. These findings support the KAI2d-mediated perception of SLs, but fall short of explaining how O. cumana perceives DCL. The ability of some O. cumana KAI2d genes to detect SLs points to the involvement of additional factors in regulating stimulant specificity.
Project description:An Orobanche cernua x Orobanche cumana segregating population provides insight into the regulation of germination specificity in a parasitic plant
Project description:Parasitism is a successful life strategy that has evolved independently in several families of Higher Plants. In parasitic plants, nutrients and water are obtained from their hosts through specifically adapted haustoria. The genera Cuscuta and Orobanche represent examples for the two profoundly different groups of parasites, one parasitizing host shoots and the other infecting host roots. In this study, we sequenced and described the overall repertoire of small RNAs (sRNome) from Cuscuta campestris and compared it to an exploratory sRNome from Orobanche aegyptiaca. Because they regulate the genomic information by mechanisms like RNA interference, these sRNomes add important bricks to our understanding of the success of the parasitic lifestyle. We could show that Cuscuta campestris contains a number of novel microRNAs (miRNAs) in addition to a conspicuous retention of miRNAs that are typically lacking in other Solanales, while several typically conserved miRNAs seem to have become obsolete in the parasite. One new miRNA appears to be derived from a horizontal gene transfer event, a process never reported in plants for the acquisition of new miRNA sequences. The exploratory miRNome (exploratory due to the absence of a full genomic sequence for reference) from the root parasitic Orobanche aegyptiaca also revealed a loss of a number of miRNAs compared to established miRNomes of photosynthetic species from the same order. In summary, our study shows for both parasites partly similar evolutionary signatures in the RNA silencing machinery. Our data bear proof for the dynamism of this regulatory mechanism in parasitic plants.
2022-07-22 | GSE181576 | GEO
Project description:WGS of Phacellanthus tubiflorus and Orobanche coerulescens
