| Abstract Detail
Bryological and Lichenological Section/ABLS Wickett, Norman J. [1], Zhang, Yan [2], Hansen, S. Kellon [3], Roper, Jessie M. [3], Kuehl, Jennifer V. [4], Plock, Sheila A. [2], Goffinet, Bernard [1], dePamphilis, Claude W. [5], Wolf, Paul G. [3], Boore, Jeffrey [4]. Towards a complete chloroplast genome sequence of the non-photosynthetic liverwort Cryptothallus mirabilis (Metzgeriales, Marchantiophyta). CRYPTOTHALLUS mirabilis is one of two species that comprise the only genus of non-photosynthetic bryophytes. This myco-heterotrophic liverwort obtains carbon indirectly from an endogenous fungus that simultaneously infects the roots of neighboring trees. Buried beneath Sphagnum peat or mats of other bryophytes, the yellowish-white thallus of C. mirabilis does not photoynthesize, potentially relaxing selection on genes involved with this metabolic process. To understand the effects of the loss of photosynthesis on the chloroplast genome of C. mirabilis, we constructed a partial genomic fosmid library with the aim of obtaining a complete chloroplast genome sequence. Fosmid clones identified to contain chloroplast inserts were shotgun sequenced and assembled into a single contiguous sequence. Comparisons with the only other liverwort chloroplast genome, Marchantia polymorpha, reveal substantial conservation in gene content and order, which may reflect a recent loss of photosynthesis. Preliminary results indicate that the inverted repeat of C. mirabilis is approximately 1800 base pairs shorter than M. polymorpha, and the small single copy region of the former is almost six thousand base pairs shorter. The size discrepancy in the small single copy region is due to the absence of several ndh genes.
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1 - University of Connecticut, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, 75 North Eagleville Road, U-3043, Storrs, Connecticut, 062693043, USA
2 - Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biology, 403 Life Sciences Building, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16802, USA
3 - Utah State University, Department of Biology, College of Science, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah, 84322, USA
4 - DOE Joint Genome Institute, Department of Evolutionary Genomics, 2800 Mitchell Drive, Walnut Creek, California, 94598, USA
5 - Pennsylvania State University, Department of Biology and Institute of Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, University Park, Pennsylvania, 16801, USA
Keywords:
chloroplast genome
bryophytes
liverworts
Myco-heterotrophy
Genome Evolution
plastid genome.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Sections
Session: 68-7
Location: 350/Holt
Date: Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
Time: 10:30 AM
Abstract ID:605 |
