Abstract Detail

Genomics / Proteomics

Naumann, Julia [1], Wafula, Eric K. [1], Palmer, Jeffrey D. [2], dePamphilis, Claude W. [1].

Tremendous Transfer – Intracellular Gene Transfer in the Basal Angiosperm Amborella trichopoda.

Amborella trichopoda, most likely sister to all extant angiosperms, is the only “basal angiosperm” that has sequenced nuclear and organellar genomes. The Amborella mitochondrial genome is extremely unusual owing to its record-setting content of foreign DNA. The origins of the foreign DNA are the Amborella plastid genome and mitochondrial genomes of other angiosperms, mosses, and green algae, acquired via both intracellular and horizontal gene transfer. The phylogenetic diversity of the foreign DNA derives from epiphytic plants that grow all over Amborella. The ability to produce new shoots from wounded branches may also have contributed to the high degree of horizontal gene transfer. Intracellular gene transfer, on the other hand, is common in plants, especially in the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes. Given the unique mitochondrial genome, the nuclear genome of Amborella could be a potent recipient of organellar and foreign DNA. The questions that we address here are: 1) Do we find organellar DNA in the Amborella nuclear genome? 2) How does the content of organellar DNA compare to other plant genomes? 3) Is there evidence of even more mitochondrial horizontal gene transfer in Amborella’s past, including additional donors, in the form of foreign mitochondrial DNA that has survived only in Amborella’s nuclear genome?

1 - The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biology, University Park, State College
2 - Indiana University, Department of Biology, Bloomington, IN, USA

Keywords:
Mitochondrial DNA
Plastid DNA
Nuclear Genome
Gene Transfer
Intracellular Gene Transfer
genome evolution.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 19, Genomics & Proteomics I
Location: 105/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Tuesday, August 2nd, 2016
Time: 11:15 AM
Number: 19013
Abstract ID:219
Candidate for Awards:Margaret Menzel Award