Horizontal genome transfer as an asexual path to the formation of new species.

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0410462 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1476-4687 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00280836 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Nature Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: Basingstoke : Nature Publishing Group
Original Publication: London, Macmillan Journals ltd.

Gene Transfer, Horizontal* ; Genetic Speciation*; Genome, Plant/*genetics ; Nicotiana/*genetics; Drug Resistance, Bacterial/genetics ; Kanamycin Resistance/genetics ; Karyotype ; Phenotype ; Plants, Genetically Modified ; Reproduction, Asexual ; Species Specificity

Allopolyploidization, the combination of the genomes from two different species, has been a major source of evolutionary innovation and a driver of speciation and environmental adaptation. In plants, it has also contributed greatly to crop domestication, as the superior properties of many modern crop plants were conferred by ancient allopolyploidization events. It is generally thought that allopolyploidization occurred through hybridization events between species, accompanied or followed by genome duplication. Although many allopolyploids arose from closely related species (congeners), there are also allopolyploid species that were formed from more distantly related progenitor species belonging to different genera or even different tribes. Here we have examined the possibility that allopolyploidization can also occur by asexual mechanisms. We show that upon grafting--a mechanism of plant-plant interaction that is widespread in nature--entire nuclear genomes can be transferred between plant cells. We provide direct evidence for this process resulting in speciation by creating a new allopolyploid plant species from a herbaceous species and a woody species in the nightshade family. The new species is fertile and produces fertile progeny. Our data highlight natural grafting as a potential asexual mechanism of speciation and also provide a method for the generation of novel allopolyploid crop species.

Comment in: Nat Rev Genet. 2014 Aug;15(8):515. doi: 10.1038/nrg3782.. (PMID: 24958439)

Planta. 2013 Sep;238(3):415-23. (PMID: 23775439)
Genetica. 2005 Feb;123(1-2):191-6. (PMID: 15881691)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Feb 14;109(7):2434-8. (PMID: 22308367)
EMBO J. 1986 Sep;5(9):2043-2049. (PMID: 16453699)
Plant Cell. 1994 Oct;6(10):1477-1484. (PMID: 12244225)
Genome. 2008 Aug;51(8):547-59. (PMID: 18650945)
J Appl Genet. 2003;44(1):45-54. (PMID: 12590180)
Science. 2009 May 1;324(5927):649-51. (PMID: 19407205)
Science. 1983 Feb 11;219(4585):683-8. (PMID: 17814029)
Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2009 May;51(2):365-72. (PMID: 19254769)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Feb 14;109(7):2439-43. (PMID: 22308369)
Curr Biol. 2008 May 20;18(10):R435-R444. (PMID: 18492478)
Science. 2008 Apr 25;320(5875):481-3. (PMID: 18436776)
Mol Genet Genomics. 2005 Feb;272(6):603-15. (PMID: 15583938)
Trends Plant Sci. 2010 Jan;15(1):11-22. (PMID: 19910236)
Science. 1983 Jun 3;220(4601):1049-51. (PMID: 17754551)
Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2009;60:561-88. (PMID: 19575590)
Bioessays. 2013 Apr;35(4):354-65. (PMID: 23361615)
Nat Rev Genet. 2005 Nov;6(11):836-46. (PMID: 16304599)
Evolution. 2010 Feb 1;64(2):295-315. (PMID: 19891628)
Plant J. 2005 Jan;41(2):221-30. (PMID: 15634199)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 May 10;108(19):7908-13. (PMID: 21512129)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2004 Dec 28;101(52):18240-5. (PMID: 15604143)
Heredity (Edinb). 2013 Feb;110(2):99-104. (PMID: 23149459)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jan 24;109(4):1176-81. (PMID: 22228301)
Plant Cell. 1993 Nov;5(11):1661-1668. (PMID: 12271050)
Nat Protoc. 2007;2(9):2233-44. (PMID: 17853881)

Date Created: 20140610 Date Completed: 20140917 Latest Revision: 20231213

20260130

10.1038/nature13291

24909992