RESUMEN
Orchidaceae, renowned for its spectacular flowers and other reproductive and ecological adaptations, is one of the most diverse plant families. Here we present the genome sequence of the tropical epiphytic orchid Phalaenopsis equestris, a frequently used parent species for orchid breeding. P. equestris is the first plant with crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) for which the genome has been sequenced. Our assembled genome contains 29,431 predicted protein-coding genes. We find that contigs likely to be underassembled, owing to heterozygosity, are enriched for genes that might be involved in self-incompatibility pathways. We find evidence for an orchid-specific paleopolyploidy event that preceded the radiation of most orchid clades, and our results suggest that gene duplication might have contributed to the evolution of CAM photosynthesis in P. equestris. Finally, we find expanded and diversified families of MADS-box C/D-class, B-class AP3 and AGL6-class genes, which might contribute to the highly specialized morphology of orchid flowers.
Asunto(s)
Genoma de Planta , Orchidaceae/genética , Evolución Molecular , Perfilación de la Expresión Génica , Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Genes de Plantas , Intrones/genética , Proteínas de Dominio MADS , Tasa de Mutación , Orchidaceae/clasificación , Orchidaceae/metabolismo , Fotosíntesis/genética , Filogenia , Proteínas de Plantas/genética , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , ARN Mensajero/biosíntesis , ARN Mensajero/genética , ARN de Planta/biosíntesis , ARN de Planta/genética , Alineación de Secuencia , Especificidad de la EspecieRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The monocot family Hypoxidaceae consists of nine genera with nearly 200 species. They occur mostly in the Southern Hemisphere with only a few species in the Northern Hemisphere, of which three genera, Hypoxis, Molineria, and Curculigo, with eight species are distributed in China. Recently, we have found a hypoxid-like plant in China that is quite different in floral structure from any of the three genera and even of the known taxa in Hypoxidaceae. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In addition to morphological analysis, we performed maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference analyses based on fragments of the chloroplast matK and rbcL genes of 60 taxa in 12 families representing all major clades of the Hypoxidaceae alliance. Results showed that Hypoxidaceae is monophyletic and and that the new plant belongs to it, forming a distinct clade within the family Hypoxidaceae as a sister of Molineria. Phylogeny of the Hypoxidaceae family was constructed based on a combined matrix of the chloroplast rbcL, trnS-G, and trnL-F regions of 59 taxa in Hypoxidaceae and its alliance. Findings of the molecular investigation is consistent with those of the morphological analysis. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Based on the results of our molecular and morphological analyses in the present study, we propose a new genus, Sinocurculigo.
