Many roads to convergence

Plant genomes highlight complex mechanisms behind evolutionary convergence Many plants form specialized symbiotic root structures, called nodules, that harbor beneficial associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the genera Rhizobium or Frankia (see the photo). How this nitrogen-fixing root nodul...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2018-07, Vol.361 (6398), p.125-126
Main Author: Nagy, László G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological evolution
Convergence
Evolution
Evolutionary genetics
Genomes
Nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria
Nodules
Phylogeny
Root nodules
Symbiosis
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Summary:Plant genomes highlight complex mechanisms behind evolutionary convergence Many plants form specialized symbiotic root structures, called nodules, that harbor beneficial associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria in the genera Rhizobium or Frankia (see the photo). How this nitrogen-fixing root nodule (NFN) symbiosis arose repeatedly during plant evolution is an age-old mystery: It shows signatures of convergence (the repeated emergence of similarity during evolution) yet builds on similar gene sets in phylogenetically distant plants. On page 144 of this issue, Griesmann et al. ( 1 ) sequenced the genomes of 10 plant species to reveal the genetic correlates of the origin and loss of NFN symbiosis. Their work reveals intricate gain and loss patterns of symbiosis-associated genes, calling for new models to explain convergent evolution.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aau2409