Evolution of herbivore-induced early defense signaling was shaped by genome-wide duplications inNicotiana.
Herbivore-induced defenses are widespread, rapidly evolving and relevant for plant fitness. Such induced defenses are often mediated by early defense signaling (EDS) rapidly activated by the perception of herbivore associated elicitors (HAE) that includes transient accumulations of jasmonic acid (JA). Analyzing 60 HAE-induced leaf transcriptomes from closely-relatedNicotianaspecies revealed a key gene co-expression network (M4 module) which is co-activated with the HAE-induced JA accumulations but is elicited independently of JA, as revealed in plants silenced in JA signaling. Functional annotations of the M4 module were consistent with roles in EDS and a newly identified hub gene of the M4 module (NaLRRK1) mediates a negative feedback loop with JA signaling. Phylogenomic analysis revealed preferential gene retention after genome-wide duplications shaped the evolution of HAE-induced EDS inNicotiana. These results highlight the importance of genome-wide duplications in the evolution of adaptive traits in plants.
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Wenwu
W
Zhou
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Thomas
T
Brockmöller
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Zhihao
Z
Ling
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.|Brigham Young University, Provo, United States.
Ashton
A
Omdahl
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Ian T
0000-0001-5371-2974
IT
Baldwin
Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany.
Shuqing
0000-0001-7010-4604
S
Xu
D003517:Cyclopentanes / Q000378:metabolism; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D020440:Gene Duplication; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D018745:Genome, Plant; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology*; D054883:Oxylipins / Q000378:metabolism; D057865:Plant Immunity; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014026:Nicotiana / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*
D003517:Cyclopentanes; D054883:Oxylipins; C011006:jasmonic acid
Nicotiana; evolutionary biology; genome duplication; genomics; herbivore-induced defense; jasmonic acid; plant biology; transposable elements