bims-plasge Biomed News
on Plastid genes
Issue of 2021‒03‒14
three papers selected by
Vera S. Bogdanova
Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences


  1. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2021 Mar 05. pii: S1055-7903(21)00069-5. [Epub ahead of print] 107136
      Plastids and mitochondria have their own small genomes, which do not undergo meiotic recombination and may have evolutionary fates different from each other and that of the nuclear genome. For the first time, we sequenced mitochondrial genomes of pea (Pisum L.) from 42 accessions mostly representing diverse wild germplasm from throughout the pea geographical range. Six structural types of the pea mitochondrial genome were revealed. From the same accessions, plastid genomes were sequenced. Phylogenetic trees based on the plastid and mitochondrial genomes were compared. The topologies of these trees were highly discordant, implying not less than six events of hybridisation between diverged wild peas in the past, with plastids and mitochondria differently inherited by the descendants. Such discordant inheritance of organelles could have been driven by plastid-nuclear incompatibility, which is known to be widespread in crosses involving wild peas and affects organellar inheritance. The topology of the phylogenetic tree based on nucleotide sequences of a nuclear gene, His5, encoding a histone H1 subtype, corresponded to the current taxonomy and resembled that based on the plastid genome. Wild peas (Pisum sativum subsp. elatius s.l.) inhabiting Southern Europe were shown to be of hybrid origin, resulting from crosses of peas related to those presently inhabiting the southeastern and northeastern Mediterranean in a broad sense. These results highlight the roles of hybridisation and cytonuclear conflict in shaping plant microevolution.
    Keywords:  Pisum L.; discordant evolution; mitochondrial genome; phylogenetic trees; plastid genome; wild peas
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2021.107136
  2. Theor Appl Genet. 2021 Mar 08.
      KEY MESSAGE: A large genomic region spanning over 300 Mb on chromosome 6A under intense artificial selection harbors multiple loci associated with favorable traits including stripe rust resistance in wheat. The development of resistance cultivars can be an optimal strategy for controlling wheat stripe rust disease. Although loci for stripe rust resistance have been identified on chromosome 6A in previous studies, it is unclear whether these loci span a common genetic interval, and few studies have attempted to analyze the haplotype changes that have accompanied wheat improvement over the period of modern breeding. In this study, we used F2:3 families and F6:7 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) derived from a cross between a resistant CIMMYT wheat accession P10090 and the susceptible landrace Mingxian 169 to improve the resolution of the QTL on chromosome 6A. The co-located QTL, designated as YrP10090, was flanked by SNP markers AX-94460938 and AX-110585473 with a genetic interval of 3.5 cM, however, corresponding to a large physical distance of over 300 Mb in RefSeq v.1.0 (positions 107.1-446.5 Mb). More than 1,300 SNP markers in this genetic region were extracted for haplotype analysis in a panel of 1,461 worldwide common wheat accessions, and three major haplotypes (Hap1, Hap2, and Hap3) were identified. The favorable haplotype Hap1 associated with stripe rust resistance exhibited a large degree of linkage disequilibrium. Selective sweep analyses were performed between different haplotype groups, revealing specific genomic regions with strong artificial selection signals. These regions harbored multiple desirable traits associated with resilience to environmental stress, different yield components, and quality characteristics. P10090 and its derivatives that carry the desirable haplotype can provide a concrete foundation for bread wheat improvement including the genomic selection.
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-021-03801-6
  3. Rice (N Y). 2021 Mar 10. 14(1): 29
      BACKGROUND: The sequences of several important mitochondrion-encoded genes involved in respiration in higher plants are interrupted by introns. Many nuclear-encoded factors are involved in splicing these introns, but the mechanisms underlying this splicing remain unknown.RESULTS: We isolated and characterized a rice mutant named floury shrunken endosperm 5 (fse5). In addition to having floury shrunken endosperm, the fse5 seeds either failed to germinate or produced seedlings which grew slowly and died ultimately. Fse5 encodes a putative plant organelle RNA recognition (PORR) protein targeted to mitochondria. Mutation of Fse5 hindered the splicing of the first intron of nad4, which encodes an essential subunit of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase complex I. The assembly and NADH dehydrogenase activity of complex I were subsequently disrupted by this mutation, and the structure of the mitochondria was abnormal in the fse5 mutant. The FSE5 protein was shown to interact with mitochondrial intron splicing factor 68 (MISF68), which is also a splicing factor for nad4 intron 1 identified previously via yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays.
    CONCLUSION: Fse5 which encodes a PORR domain-containing protein, is essential for the splicing of nad4 intron 1, and loss of Fse5 function affects seed development and seedling growth.
    Keywords:  Mitochondria; NADH dehydrogenase; Oryza sativa; Seed development; cis-splicing; nad4 intron 1
    DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1186/s12284-021-00463-2