Department of Economic Plants and Biotechnology, Yunnan Key Laboratory for Wild Plant Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, 650201, China.
Institute of Plant Stress Biology, State Key Laboratory of Cotton Biology, Department of Biology, Henan University, Kaifeng, 475001, China.
Nat Commun. 2018 Jul 11;9(1):2683. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04721-8.
Dodders (Cuscuta spp., Convolvulaceae) are root- and leafless parasitic plants. The physiology, ecology, and evolution of these obligate parasites are poorly understood. A high-quality reference genome of Cuscuta australis was assembled. Our analyses reveal that Cuscuta experienced accelerated molecular evolution, and Cuscuta and the convolvulaceous morning glory (Ipomoea) shared a common whole-genome triplication event before their divergence. C. australis genome harbors 19,671 protein-coding genes, and importantly, 11.7% of the conserved orthologs in autotrophic plants are lost in C. australis. Many of these gene loss events likely result from its parasitic lifestyle and the massive changes of its body plan. Moreover, comparison of the gene expression patterns in Cuscuta prehaustoria/haustoria and various tissues of closely related autotrophic plants suggests that Cuscuta haustorium formation requires mostly genes normally involved in root development. The C. australis genome provides important resources for studying the evolution of parasitism, regressive evolution, and evo-devo in plant parasites.
菟丝子（旋花科菟丝子属）是一种无根无叶的寄生植物。这些专性寄生植物的生理学、生态学和进化过程还不太清楚。我们成功组装了高质量的南方菟丝子参考基因组。分析表明，菟丝子经历了加速的分子进化，并且在分化之前，菟丝子和旋花科的牵牛（Ipomoea）共享了一个全基因组三倍数倍增事件。南方菟丝子基因组包含 19671 个编码蛋白的基因，重要的是，在自养植物中保守的直系同源物有 11.7%在南方菟丝子中丢失。这些基因丢失事件中的许多可能是由于其寄生生活方式和身体结构的巨大变化所致。此外，对菟丝子前吸器/吸器和与其密切相关的自养植物各种组织中的基因表达模式进行比较，表明菟丝子吸器的形成主要需要通常参与根发育的基因。南方菟丝子基因组为研究寄生、逆行进化和植物寄生生物的进化发育生物学提供了重要资源。
