Abstract Detail

Seed-free Plants at the Genomic Scale

Johnson, Matthew [1], Goffinet, Bernard [2], Shaw, A Jonathan [3], Wickett, Norm [4].

A re-evaluation of ancient horizontal gene transfer in bryophytes using comparative transcriptome data.

The invasion of land coincided with the development of novel complex regulatory systems in plants and the proliferation of gene families unique to the embryophytes. Many have hypothesized that ancient land plants attained genes for these new functions through horizontal gene transfer (HGT) from fungi, bacteria, or viruses. Previous efforts to characterize HGT in land plants uncovered many candidate genes, but were limited by genomic resources, especially taxon sampling in the bryophytes. The availability of new genome-scale datasets, such as the transcriptomes from the OneKP Project, permit a broader approach to investigate the incidence, frequency, and timing of potential HGT events. Detecting HGT requires careful consideration when constructing sequence databases, setting parameters for BLAST searches, and for evaluation of gene tree topologies. We evaluate these methodological challenges and provide evolutionary context to previously identified HGT candidates in bryophytes. Our taxon sampling allows us to further identify several HGT events that occurred within specific clades of bryophytes in genes with no known ortholog in the seed plants. This finding suggests that HGT was not limited to the early origins of land plants, but has been a common component of genome evolution in bryophytes for millions of years.

1 - Chicago Botanic Garden, Plant Sciences, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL, 60626, United States
2 - University of Connecticut, Ecology and Evolution, 75 North Eaglevlle Rd, Storrs, CT, 06269, United States
3 - 130 Science Drive, Box 90338, Durham, NC, 27708, USA
4 - Chicago Botanic Garden, Plant Conservation Science, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL, 60022, USA

Keywords:
phylogenomics
moss
HGT
Gene tree
genome evolution.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: C4, Seed Free Plants at the Genomic Scale
Location: Chatham Ballroom - C/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016
Time: 4:00 PM
Number: C4011
Abstract ID:391
Candidate for Awards:None