Plastid Genomes of Carnivorous Plants Drosera rotundifolia and Nepenthes × ventrata Reveal Evolutionary Patterns Resembling Those Observed in Parasitic Plants

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences 2019-08, Vol.20 (17), p.4107
• Main Authors: Gruzdev, Eugeny V, Kadnikov, Vitaly V, Beletsky, Alexey V, Kochieva, Elena Z, Mardanov, Andrey V, Skryabin, Konstantin G, Ravin, Nikolai V
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acetyl-CoA carboxylase; Amino acids; Biological Evolution; carnivorous plant; Caryophyllales; Computational Biology - methods; Dehydrogenases; Drosera - genetics; Drosera - parasitology; Gene Duplication; gene loss; Gene Rearrangement; Genes; Genes, Plant; Genome, Plastid; Genomes; Genomics - methods; Insects; Inverted repeat; NADPH dehydrogenase; Nutrients; Parasites; Photosynthesis; plastid genome; Proteins; RNA Editing; RNA polymerase
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms20174107

Carnivorous plants have the ability to capture and digest small animals as a source of additional nutrients, which allows them to grow in nutrient-poor habitats. Here we report the complete sequences of the plastid genomes of two carnivorous plants of the order Caryophyllales, and × . The plastome of is repeat-rich and highly rearranged. It lacks NAD(P)H dehydrogenase genes, as well as and genes, and three essential tRNA genes. Intron losses are observed in some protein-coding and tRNA genes along with a pronounced reduction of RNA editing sites. Only six editing sites were identified by RNA-seq in plastid genome and at most conserved editing sites the conserved amino acids are already encoded at the DNA level. In contrast, the × plastome has a typical structure and gene content, except for pseudogenization of the gene. × and could represent different stages of evolution of the plastid genomes of carnivorous plants, resembling events observed in parasitic plants in the course of the switch from autotrophy to a heterotrophic lifestyle.