Paper · 2025 · American Journal of Botany

Disentangling serial chloroplast captures in willows

Diksha Gambhir; Brian J. Sanderson; Minghao Guo; et al.

2
claims
3
verbatim quotes
6
citations
3
research areas
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Not open access

Abstract

PREMISE: Chloroplast capture is a process through which the chloroplast of a focal species is replaced by the chloroplast from another species during repeated backcrossing of an initial hybrid. Here we investigated serial chloroplast capture from Salix nigra in willows during sequential hybridization events that led to the capture of the same chloroplast lineage across multiple Salix species. METHODS: Previously generated sequences of nuclear and chloroplast regions from several Salix species were used to identify cases of cytonuclear phylogenetic discordance, a pattern indicating chloroplast capture. Serial chloroplast captures were identified by comparing phylogenetic topologies of the chloroplast trees to discriminate among (1) a single chloroplast capture and subsequent speciation of the lineage with the captured chloroplast, (2) multiple chloroplast captures from the same parent species, and (3) serial chloroplast captures. We also looked for hybridization in genes involved in cytonuclear interactions and in photosynthesis. RESULTS: We identified cases of serial chloroplast capture and speciation after chloroplast capture in Salix. Although these chloroplast capture events were accompanied by signals of hybridization in the nuclear genomes, nuclear genes that functionally interact with chloroplast genes and nuclear genes involved in photosynthesis were no more likely to introgress in species with chloroplast captures than in species without chloroplast captures. CONCLUSIONS: This study illuminates the complex evolution of the chloroplast genomes in Salix and the potential for hybridization and introgression to influence genomic evolution.

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Claims 2

Observationobservedoriginal resultmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Cases of serial chloroplast capture and speciation after chloroplast capture were identified in Salix.

Taxon
SalixSalixe0
Outcome
serial chloroplast capturee0

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Salix
Salix · Taxon · picture of the genus (one of its species)Bruce Marlin · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

e0

“We identified cases of serial chloroplast capture and speciation after chloroplast capture in Salix”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1054–1153 · show in text ↑
Observationobservedoriginal resultno effectmeasured

Claim · model-written summary

Nuclear genes interacting with chloroplast genes and photosynthesis genes were no more likely to introgress in willow species with chloroplast captures than in those without.

Taxon
willowsSalixt0
Outcome
no more likely to introgresse1
Comparator
species without chloroplast capturese1

Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Salix
Salix · Taxon · picture of the genus (one of its species)Bruce Marlin · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons ↗

Verbatim

t0

“willows”

✓ located verbatim in the source · title, characters 45–52 · show in text ↑
e1

“nuclear genes that functionally interact with chloroplast genes and nuclear genes involved in photosynthesis were no more likely to introgress in species with chloroplast captures than in species without chloroplast captures”

✓ located verbatim in the source · abstract, characters 1266–1490 · show in text ↑