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Lookup NU author(s): Emerita Professor Anne Borland
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a water-use efficient adaptation of photosynthesis that has evolved independently many times in diverse lineages of flowering plants. We hypothesize that convergent evolution of protein sequence and temporal gene expression underpins the independent emergences of CAM from C3 photosynthesis. To test this hypothesis, we generate a de novo genome assembly and genome-wide transcript expression data for Kalanchoë fedtschenkoi, an obligate CAM species within the core eudicots with a relatively small genome (~260 Mb). Our comparative analyses identify signatures of convergence in protein sequence and re-scheduling of diel transcript expression of genes involved in nocturnal CO2 fixation, stomatal movement, heat tolerance, circadian clock and carbohydrate metabolism in K. fedtschenkoi and other CAM species in comparison with non-CAM species. These findings provide new insights into molecular convergence and building blocks of CAM and will facilitate CAM-into-C3 photosynthesis engineering to enhance water-use efficiency in crops.
Author(s): Yang X, Hu R, Yin H, Jenkins J, Shu S, Tang H, Liu D, Weighill DA, Yim WC, Ha J, Heyduk K, Goodstein DM, Guo HB, Moseley RC, Fitzek E, Jawdy S, Zhang Z, Xie M, Hartwell J, Grimwood J, Abraham PE, Mewalal R, Beltran JD, Boxall SF, Dever LV, Palla KJ, Albion R, Garcia T, Mayer J, Lim SD, Wai CM, Peluso P, Buren RV, De Paoli HC, Borland AM, Guo H, Chen JG, Muchero W, Yin Y, Jacobson DA, Tschaplinski TJ, Hettich RL, Ming R, Winter K, Leebens-Mack JH, Smith JAC, Cushman JC, Schmutz J, Tuskan GA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Nature Communications
Year: 2017
Volume: 8
Online publication date: 01/12/2017
Acceptance date: 21/09/2017
Date deposited: 21/09/2017
ISSN (electronic): 2041-1723
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01491-7
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01491-7
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