| Abstract Detail
The Greatest Opportunists of all: Celebrating 40 years of Job Kuijt’s Randle, Christopher P. [1], Keith-Couch, Sarah [2], Tarson, Victor G. [1]. Characterization of rbcS in Orobanchaceae. Plants that are no longer dependent on endogenous photosynthesis often experience rapid evolution at loci responsible for photosynthesis. Common results include gene deletion and the evolution of non-functional sequences through insertions, deletions, and premature stop codons. Much has been documented about the evolution of the chloroplast gene encoding the large subunit of Rubisco (rbcL) in Orobanchaceae, with many holoparasitic plants experiencing loss-of-function mutations. However, some of these holoparasites retain functional copies of this gene through purifying selection, or in other cases, stochastically. On the other hand, little is known regarding the structure and evolution of the nuclear gene family encoding the small subunit of Rubisco (rbcS) in these plants. In this study, rbcS will be characterized in hemiparasitic and holoparasitic members of Orobanchaceae. Characterization includes ascertaining the number of copies, the number of introns of each copy, inferred amino acid sequence. The presence or absence of functional rbcS sequences may be especially important in determining the role of selection in maintaining rbcL, in that importation of the small subunit into the chloroplast regulates the expression of the large subunit.
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1 - Sam Houston State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 1900 Avenue I, Huntsville, TX, 77340, USA
2 - Sam Houston State University, Department of Biological Sciences, 1900 Avenue I, Hunstville, TX, 77340, USA
Keywords:
Orobanchaceae
parasitic plants
rbcL
rbcS
rubisco.
Presentation Type: Symposium or Colloquium Presentation
Session: SY11
Location: Cottonwood A/Snowbird Center
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Time: 3:15 PM
Number: SY11005
Abstract ID:294 |
