Taming the Plastid Genome

Taming the Plastid Genome

Genetic diversity of Arum L. based on plastid marker

TrnL-F region including intron trnL (UAA) and trnL (UAA) - trn (GAA) spacer in the large single-copy region of the chloroplast genome is widely used to infer phylogenetic relationships in plants. In this study, we obtained the trnL-F sequences from 8 samples of Arum L. in Iran. Phylogenetic analyses were conducted by the Bayesian inference, maximum parsimony, and maximum likelihood methods. The...

Rampant Gene Loss in the Underground Orchid Rhizanthella gardneri Highlights Evolutionary Constraints on Plastid Genomes

Since the endosymbiotic origin of chloroplasts from cyanobacteria 2 billion years ago, the evolution of plastids has been characterized by massive loss of genes. Most plants and algae depend on photosynthesis for energy and have retained ∼110 genes in their chloroplast genome that encode components of the gene expression machinery and subunits of the photosystems. However, nonphotosynthetic par...

Plastome-genome interactions affect plastid transmission in Oenothera.

Plastids of Oenothera, the evening primrose, can be transmitted to the progeny from both parents. In a constant nuclear background, the frequency of biparental plastid transmission is determined by the types of plastid genomes (plastomes) involved in the crosses. In this study, the impact of nuclear genomes on plastid inheritance was analyzed. In general, the transmission efficiency of each pla...

Direct Estimate of the Spontaneous Mutation Rate Uncovers the Effects of Drift and Recombination in the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii Plastid Genome.

Plastids perform crucial cellular functions, including photosynthesis, across a wide variety of eukaryotes. Since endosymbiosis, plastids have maintained independent genomes that now display a wide diversity of gene content, genome structure, gene regulation mechanisms, and transmission modes. The evolution of plastid genomes depends on an input of de novo mutation, but our knowledge of mutatio...