Abstract
Abstract Parasitic plants in Orobanchaceae attach to host plants and steal resources. These parasites, which vary in photosynthetic status and host dependence, have received considerable attention because they are noxious weeds in agricultural settings, although they are important community members in natural ecosystems. Outside Orobanchaceae, parasitism has arisen 11 times in flowering plants, and convergent morphological and molecular evolution has occurred across phylogenetically distinct groups of parasites. Here, we address whether convergent evolution has occurred in the KAI2 signalling system, which is known to enable host-responsive seed germination in Orobanchaceae. Furthermore, we investigate how selection has shaped KAI2 and its homologue DLK2. Phylogenetic analyses and selection tests show that DLK2 has evolved similarly across angiosperms, although some parasites have experienced modestly elevated evolutionary rates. In contrast, KAI2 has evolved uniquely rapidly in parasitic Orobanchaceae and perhaps been shaped by positive selection on individual codons. A deeper investigation of KAI2 in Asterids reveals a duplication that probably occurred before the divergence of Lamiids and Campanulids. These results shed light on the evolution of germination signalling in parasites and underscore the uniqueness of KAI2 in Orobanchaceae. Furthermore, they enhance our understanding of how molecular evolution contributes to biological innovations such as parasitism.
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record, shown for indexing and research. Copyright remains with the authors or the publisher. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 5
Claim · model-written summary
DLK2 has evolved similarly across angiosperms.
- Taxon
- angiospermsMagnoliopsidae1
- Gene
- DLK2e1
- Outcome
- DLK2 has evolved similarlye1
Verbatim
e1“DLK2 has evolved similarly across angiosperms, although some parasites have experienced modestly elevated evolutionary rates”
Claim · model-written summary
Some parasitic plants show modestly elevated evolutionary rates of DLK2.
Verbatim
t0“parasitic plants”
e1“DLK2 has evolved similarly across angiosperms, although some parasites have experienced modestly elevated evolutionary rates”
Claim · model-written summary
KAI2 has evolved uniquely rapidly in parasitic Orobanchaceae.
- Taxon
- OrobanchaceaeOrobanchaceaee2
- Gene
- KAI2e2
- Outcome
- KAI2 has evolvede2
- Direction
- uniquely rapidlye2
Verbatim
t0“parasitic plants”
e2“KAI2 has evolved uniquely rapidly in parasitic Orobanchaceae and perhaps been shaped by positive selection on individual codons”
Claim · model-written summary
KAI2 evolution in Orobanchaceae may have been shaped by positive selection on individual codons.
- Taxon
- OrobanchaceaeOrobanchaceaee2
- Gene
- KAI2e2
- Outcome
- been shapede2
- Qualifier
- positive selection on individual codonse2
Verbatim
t0“parasitic plants”
e2“KAI2 has evolved uniquely rapidly in parasitic Orobanchaceae and perhaps been shaped by positive selection on individual codons”
Claim · model-written summary
A KAI2 duplication in Asterids probably occurred before the divergence of Lamiids and Campanulids.
Verbatim
t0“parasitic plants”
e3“A deeper investigation of KAI2 in Asterids reveals a duplication that probably occurred before the divergence of Lamiids and Campanulids”