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Abstract Detail


Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Schaeferhoff, Bastian [1], Wicke, Susann [1], dePamphilis, Claude [2], Fleischmann, Andreas [3], Heubl, Guenther [3], Mueller, Kai [1].

Changes in gene content, substitutional rates, and selectional pressures in chloroplast genomes of carnivorous Lentibulariaceae.

Carnivory is one of the most fascinating and extreme ecological specializations among plants. The three genera Pinguicula, Genlisea and Utricularia (Lentibulariaceae, Lamiales) account for approximately half the number of the currently known carnivorous plant species. Lentibulariaceae exhibit the smallest nuclear genome of all angiosperm lineages, and nucleotide substitution rates of some plastid genes have been shown to be exceptionally high. In an effort to further illuminate such dramatic changes in the molecular evolution of Lentibulariaceae, we sequenced a complete plastid genome from a representative of each of the three genera. While plastid genomes generally remain co-linear with those of closely related angiosperms, we observe a size reduction of up to nine percent in Lentibulariaceae, partly due to localized gene losses. The deviation from the 'standard' angiosperm plastid genome is most significant in Genlisea. The number of protein-coding genes with a significant higher substitution rate compared to non-carnivorous plants increases from Pinguicula via Utricularia to Genlisea. The results from further analyses of functional capacity, genome structure, evolution of nucleotide substitution rates and changes of selectional pressures will be discussed.
(B.S. and S.W. contributed equally to this study.)

Broader Impacts:


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1 - University of Muenster, Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, Huefferstr. 1, Muenster, 48149, Germany
2 - Pennsylvania State University, Department Of Biology, 101 LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, UNIVERSITY PARK, PA, 16802, USA
3 - Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Department of Biology, Systematic Botany and Mycology, Menzinger Straße 67, Munich, 80638, Germany

Keywords:
Plastid genome
carnivorous plants
genome-wide substitution rate analysis
mutational rates
Lentibulariaceae.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 16
Location: Union B/Hyatt
Date: Monday, July 9th, 2012
Time: 4:15 PM
Number: 16011
Abstract ID:927


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