Abstract Detail

Reproductive Processes

Igić, Boris [1], Ramanauskas, Karolis [1].

Candidate-based discovery of self-incompatibility across eudicots.

Genetic mechanisms that prevent self-pollinated flowers from being fertilized are commonly expressed across angiosperms. The ancestor-descendant relationships among a variety of described mechanisms remain opaque, as does their genetic basis in the vast majority of flowering plants. Members of one particular gene family, T2/S-RNases, are known to cause the pistil-side response in self-incompatibility in several distantly related eudicot families. Based on previous work, we predicted that they ought to control self-incompatibility across eudicots. Here, we report the results of a tissue-targeted RNA-seq trawling campaign, which reveals that RNase-based self-incompatibility is both ancestral and common in eudicots. For the first time, we uncover the evidence of molecular genetic basis of self-incompatibility in a number of new plant families. Significantly, we obtain the additional weight of evidence for S-RNase control of self-incompatibility in Cactaceae, and also find that heterostyly in Primulaceae is derived, with homostylous members of this family also expressing S-RNases. The ancient common ancestry of S-RNase-based self-incompatibility and its wide distribution has vast implications for the evolutionary history of angiosperms. Our approach can be broadly harnessed to greatly accelerate molecular genetic studies of self-incompatibility and other traits.

1 - University of Illinois at Chicago

Keywords:
self-incompatibility
Diversification
Breeding System
RNA-seq.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: REP1, Reproductive Processes 1
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Wednesday, July 29th, 2020
Time: 11:30 AM
Number: REP1007
Abstract ID:869
Candidate for Awards:None