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Title: Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont

Abstract

Cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Nostoc comprise free-living strains and also facultative plant symbionts. Symbiotic strains can enter into symbiosis with taxonomically diverse range of host plants. Little is known about genomic changes associated with evolutionary transition of Nostoc from free-living to plant symbiont. Here, we compared the genomes derived from 11 symbiotic Nostoc strains isolated from different host plants and infer phylogenetic relationships between strains. Phylogenetic reconstructions of 89 Nostocales showed that symbiotic Nostoc strains with a broad host range, entering epiphytic and intracellular or extracellular endophytic interactions, form a monophyletic clade indicating a common evolutionary history. A polyphyletic origin was found for Nostoc strains which enter only extracellular symbioses, and inference of transfer events implied that this trait was likely acquired several times in the evolution of the Nostocales. Symbiotic Nostoc strains showed enriched functions in transport and metabolism of organic sulfur, chemotaxis and motility, as well as the uptake of phosphate, branched-chain amino acids, and ammonium. The genomes of the intracellular clade differ from that of other Nostoc strains, with a gain/enrichment of genes encoding proteins to generate L-methionine from sulfite and pathways for the degradation of the plant metabolites vanillin and vanillate, and of the macromoleculemore » xylan present in plant cell walls. These compounds could function as C-sources for members of the intracellular clade. Molecular clock analysis indicated that the intracellular clade emerged ca. 600 Ma, suggesting that intracellular Nostoc symbioses predate the origin of land plants and the emergence of their extant hosts.« less

Authors:
ORCiD logo [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [1];  [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [1];
  1. Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
  2. Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, UiT–The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
  3. US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA
  4. Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT–The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
  5. Department of Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA
  6. Department of Microbial and Environmental Genomics, J. Craig Venter Institute, La Jolla, CA
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Univ. of California, Oakland, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1434367
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1543986
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Molecular Biology and Evolution
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Molecular Biology and Evolution Journal Volume: 35 Journal Issue: 5; Journal ID: ISSN 0737-4038
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; Biochemistry & Molecular Biology; Evolutionary Biology; Genetics & Heredity; cyanobacteria; symbiosis; evolution; plant–microbe interaction

Citation Formats

Warshan, Denis, Liaimer, Anton, Pederson, Eric, Kim, Sea-Yong, Shapiro, Nicole, Woyke, Tanja, Altermark, Bjørn, Pawlowski, Katharina, Weyman, Philip D., Dupont, Christopher L., Rasmussen, Ulla, and Perna, ed., Nicole. Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1093/molbev/msy029.
Warshan, Denis, Liaimer, Anton, Pederson, Eric, Kim, Sea-Yong, Shapiro, Nicole, Woyke, Tanja, Altermark, Bjørn, Pawlowski, Katharina, Weyman, Philip D., Dupont, Christopher L., Rasmussen, Ulla, & Perna, ed., Nicole. Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont. United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy029
Warshan, Denis, Liaimer, Anton, Pederson, Eric, Kim, Sea-Yong, Shapiro, Nicole, Woyke, Tanja, Altermark, Bjørn, Pawlowski, Katharina, Weyman, Philip D., Dupont, Christopher L., Rasmussen, Ulla, and Perna, ed., Nicole. Thu . "Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont". United States. https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy029.
@article{osti_1434367,
title = {Genomic Changes Associated with the Evolutionary Transitions of Nostoc to a Plant Symbiont},
author = {Warshan, Denis and Liaimer, Anton and Pederson, Eric and Kim, Sea-Yong and Shapiro, Nicole and Woyke, Tanja and Altermark, Bjørn and Pawlowski, Katharina and Weyman, Philip D. and Dupont, Christopher L. and Rasmussen, Ulla and Perna, ed., Nicole},
abstractNote = {Cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Nostoc comprise free-living strains and also facultative plant symbionts. Symbiotic strains can enter into symbiosis with taxonomically diverse range of host plants. Little is known about genomic changes associated with evolutionary transition of Nostoc from free-living to plant symbiont. Here, we compared the genomes derived from 11 symbiotic Nostoc strains isolated from different host plants and infer phylogenetic relationships between strains. Phylogenetic reconstructions of 89 Nostocales showed that symbiotic Nostoc strains with a broad host range, entering epiphytic and intracellular or extracellular endophytic interactions, form a monophyletic clade indicating a common evolutionary history. A polyphyletic origin was found for Nostoc strains which enter only extracellular symbioses, and inference of transfer events implied that this trait was likely acquired several times in the evolution of the Nostocales. Symbiotic Nostoc strains showed enriched functions in transport and metabolism of organic sulfur, chemotaxis and motility, as well as the uptake of phosphate, branched-chain amino acids, and ammonium. The genomes of the intracellular clade differ from that of other Nostoc strains, with a gain/enrichment of genes encoding proteins to generate L-methionine from sulfite and pathways for the degradation of the plant metabolites vanillin and vanillate, and of the macromolecule xylan present in plant cell walls. These compounds could function as C-sources for members of the intracellular clade. Molecular clock analysis indicated that the intracellular clade emerged ca. 600 Ma, suggesting that intracellular Nostoc symbioses predate the origin of land plants and the emergence of their extant hosts.},
doi = {10.1093/molbev/msy029},
journal = {Molecular Biology and Evolution},
number = 5,
volume = 35,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Thu Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msy029

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 28 works
Citation information provided by
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Figures / Tables:

Table 1 Table 1: Host Range of Nostoc sp. and Symbiotic Localization.

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.