Limited mitogenomic degradation in response to a parasitic lifestyle in Orobanchaceae.
In parasitic plants, the reduction in plastid genome (plastome) size and content is driven predominantly by the loss of photosynthetic genes. The first completed mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from parasitic mistletoes also exhibit significant degradation, but the generality of this observation for other parasitic plants is unclear. We sequenced the complete mitogenome and plastome of the hemiparasite Castilleja paramensis (Orobanchaceae) and compared them with additional holoparasitic, hemiparasitic and nonparasitic species from Orobanchaceae. Comparative mitogenomic analysis revealed minimal gene loss among the seven Orobanchaceae species, indicating the retention of typical mitochondrial function among Orobanchaceae species. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the mobile cox1 intron was acquired vertically from a nonparasitic ancestor, arguing against a role for Orobanchaceae parasites in the horizontal acquisition or distribution of this intron. The C. paramensis plastome has retained nearly all genes except for the recent pseudogenization of four subunits of the NAD(P)H dehydrogenase complex, indicating a very early stage of plastome degradation. These results lend support to the notion that loss of ndh gene function is the first step of plastome degradation in the transition to a parasitic lifestyle.
Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.|Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Weishu
W
Fan
Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.|Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Andan
A
Zhu
Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Melisa
M
Kozaczek
Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.|Department of Computer Sciences and Engineering, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.
Neethu
N
Shah
Instituto de Biología, Universidad de Antioquia, Apartado 1226, Medellín, Colombia.
Natalia
N
Pabón-Mora
Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Apartado 7495, Sede Bogotá, Colombia.
Favio
F
González
Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA.|Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA.
Jeffrey P
JP
Mower
D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D017343:Genes, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D018745:Genome, Plant / Q000235:genetics*; D054627:Genome, Plastid / Q000235:genetics; D007438:Introns / Q000235:genetics; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D031670:Orobanchaceae / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013045:Species Specificity
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins