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Fill JM, Meadows I, Walker JL, Crandall RM, Kerrigan JL. Smut fungus (Langdonia walkerae) incidence is lower in two bunchgrass species (Aristida stricta and A. beyrichiana) after fires early in the year. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2024; 111:e16286. [PMID: 38366863 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16286] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
PREMISE In frequently burned southeastern USA pine-grassland communities, wiregrass (Aristida stricta and A. beyrichiana) are dominant bunchgrasses whose flowers are infected during flowering by a smut fungus (Langdonia walkerae). We hypothesized that because prescribed fire timing affects wiregrass flowering patterns, it could affect smut incidence (occurrence of smut on plants) and severity of infection in inflorescences and spikelets. Because soil order could influence plant susceptibility, we hypothesized that these patterns would differ between soil orders. We hypothesized differences between species as representative of geographic variation in this ecosystem. METHODS We surveyed the incidence and severity of L. walkerae in wiregrass populations (85 populations at 14 sites) that had been prescription burned at different times during the previous year. We used binomial regressions to test whether incidence and severity differed by burn day, soil order, or species, with site as a random effect. RESULTS Fires that occurred in the winter were associated with significantly lower incidence than fires later in the year (as the months progressed into summer). Plants growing on Spodosol soils were significantly less likely to be infected than those on other soils. More variation in incidence, however, was explained by site, suggesting that site-specific characteristics were important. Smut severity in inflorescences and spikelets was greater overall in populations of A. stricta than in southern populations (A. beyrichiana). CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that fire timing and soil order affect L. walkerae incidence in wiregrass plants, but neither appears to be associated with greater severity. Patterns of smut infection are related to site history and geographic variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer M Fill
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611
| | - Inga Meadows
- Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mountain Research Station, North Carolina State University, Waynesville, NC, 28786
| | - Joan L Walker
- US Forest Service Southern Research Station, Clemson, SC, 29631
| | - Raelene M Crandall
- School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 32611
| | - Julia L Kerrigan
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 29634
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Ryley MJ, Tan YP, Kruse J, Thines M, Shivas RG. More than meets the eye — unexpected diversity in downy mildews (Oomycetes) on grasses in Australia. Mycol Prog 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s11557-021-01750-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Alqurashi AS, Kerrigan J, Savchenko KG. Morphological and molecular characterization of Langdonia walkerae sp. nov. infecting Aristida stricta and A. beyrichiana in longleaf pine-grassland ecosystems in the southeastern USA. Fungal Syst Evol 2022; 8:39-47. [PMID: 35005571 PMCID: PMC8687059 DOI: 10.3114/fuse.2021.08.04] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2020] [Accepted: 04/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
A smut fungus that hinders wiregrass restoration efforts in longleaf pine-grassland ecosystems was collected from Aristida stricta and A. beyrichiana (Poaceae) in three states in the southeastern USA. Morphological and phylogenetic characteristics of this fungus were examined. These data show that the specimens from both plant species were infected by the same fungus and represent a new species of Langdonia. The new species differs morphologically from other species of Langdonia by teliospores being solitary and not compacted into spore balls. Spore wall ornamentation and teliospore size also differ from other Langdonia species. Phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences of the ITS, LSU, and EF-1α supported separation of the species from A. stricta and A. beyrichiana from other Langdonia species. Based on these results, a new species, Langdonia walkerae, is proposed.
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Affiliation(s)
- A S Alqurashi
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - J Kerrigan
- Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA
| | - K G Savchenko
- Department of Biological Sciences, Butler University, Indianapolis, IN 46208, USA
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Guo XX, Qu XJ, Zhang XJ, Fan SJ. Comparative and Phylogenetic Analysis of Complete Plastomes among Aristidoideae Species (Poaceae). BIOLOGY 2022; 11:biology11010063. [PMID: 35053061 PMCID: PMC8773369 DOI: 10.3390/biology11010063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2021] [Revised: 12/26/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Aristidoideae is a subfamily in the PACMAD clade of family Poaceae, including three genera, Aristida, Stipagrostis, and Sartidia. In this study, the plastomes of Aristida adscensionis and Stipagrostis pennata were newly sequenced, and a total of 16 Aristidoideae plastomes were compared. All plastomes were conservative in genome size, gene number, structure, and IR boundary. Repeat sequence analysis showed that forward and palindrome repeats were the most common repeat types. The number of SSRs ranged from 30 (Sartidia isaloensis) to 54 (Aristida purpurea). Codon usage analysis showed that plastome genes preferred to use codons ending with A/T. A total of 12 highly variable regions were screened, including four protein coding sequences (matK, ndhF, infA, and rpl32) and eight non-coding sequences (rpl16-1-rpl16-2, ccsA-ndhD, trnY-GUA-trnD-GUC, ndhF-rpl32, petN-trnC-GCA, trnT-GGU-trnE-UUC, trnG-GCC-trnfM-CAU, and rpl32-trnL-UAG). Furthermore, the phylogenetic position of this subfamily and their intergeneric relationships need to be illuminated. All Maximum Likelihood and Bayesian Inference trees strongly support the monophyly of Aristidoideae and each of three genera, and the clade of Aristidoideae and Panicoideae was a sister to other subfamilies in the PACMAD clade. Within Aristidoideae, Aristida is a sister to the clade composed of Stipagrostis and Sartidia. The divergence between C4 Stipagrostis and C3 Sartidia was estimated at 11.04 Ma, which may be associated with the drought event in the Miocene period. Finally, the differences in carbon fixation patterns, geographical distributions, and ploidy may be related to the difference of species numbers among these three genera. This study provides insights into the phylogeny and evolution of the subfamily Aristidoideae.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Xue-Jie Zhang
- Correspondence: (X.-J.Z.); (S.-J.F.); Tel.: +86-531-86180718 (S.-J.F.)
| | - Shou-Jin Fan
- Correspondence: (X.-J.Z.); (S.-J.F.); Tel.: +86-531-86180718 (S.-J.F.)
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Kellogg EA, Abbott JR, Bawa KS, Gandhi KN, Kailash BR, Ganeshaiah K, Shrestha UB, Raven P. Checklist of the grasses of India. PHYTOKEYS 2020; 163:1-560. [PMID: 37397271 PMCID: PMC10311516 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.163.38393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2019] [Accepted: 01/22/2020] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
A checklist of the grasses of India is presented, as compiled from survey of all available literature. Of the twelve subfamilies of grasses, ten are represented in India. Most subfamilies have been examined by taxonomic experts for up-to-date nomenclature. The list includes 1506 species plus infraspecific taxa and presents information on types, synonyms, distribution within India, and habit. Twelve new combinations are made, viz. Arctopoa tibetica (Munro ex Stapf) Prob. var. aristulata (Stapf) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Chimonocalamus nagalandianus (H.B. Naithani) L.G. Clark, comb. nov.; Chionachne digitata (L.f.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Chionachne wallichiana (Nees) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Dinebra polystachyos (R. Br.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Moorochloa eruciformis (Sm.) Veldkamp var. divaricata (Basappa & Muniv.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Phyllostachys nigra (Lodd. ex Lindl.) Munro var. puberula (Miq.) Kailash, comb. & stat. nov.; Tzveleviochloa schmidii (Hook. f.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Urochloa lata (Schumach.) C.E. Hubb. var. pubescens (C.E. Hubb.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Urochloa ramosa (L.) T.Q. Nguyen var. pubescens (Basappa & Muniy.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.; Urochloa semiundulata (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Ashalatha & V.J. Nair var. intermedia (Basappa & Muniy.) E.A. Kellogg, comb. nov.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - J. Richard Abbott
- Missouri Botanical GardenSt. LouisUnited States of America
- Missouri Botanical GardenSt. Louis, MOUnited States of America
| | - Kamaljit S. Bawa
- University of Massachusetts, BostonBostonUnited States of America
| | | | - B. R. Kailash
- 5Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)BangaloreIndia
| | | | | | - Peter Raven
- Missouri Botanical GardenSt. LouisUnited States of America
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Some like it hot: the physiological ecology of C 4 plant evolution. Oecologia 2018; 187:941-966. [PMID: 29955992 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-018-4191-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2017] [Accepted: 06/05/2018] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
The evolution of C4 photosynthesis requires an intermediate phase where photorespiratory glycine produced in the mesophyll cells must flow to the vascular sheath cells for metabolism by glycine decarboxylase. This glycine flux concentrates photorespired CO2 within the sheath cells, allowing it to be efficiently refixed by sheath Rubisco. A modest C4 biochemical cycle is then upregulated, possibly to support the refixation of photorespired ammonia in sheath cells, with subsequent increases in C4 metabolism providing incremental benefits until an optimized C4 pathway is established. 'Why' C4 photosynthesis evolved is largely explained by ancestral C3 species exploiting photorespiratory CO2 to improve carbon gain and thus enhance fitness. While photorespiration depresses C3 performance, it produces a resource (photorespired CO2) that can be exploited to build an evolutionary bridge to C4 photosynthesis. 'Where' C4 evolved is indicated by the habitat of species branching near C3-to-C4 transitions on phylogenetic trees. Consistent with the photorespiratory bridge hypothesis, transitional species show that the large majority of > 60 C4 lineages arose in hot, dry, and/or saline regions where photorespiratory potential is high. 'When' C4 evolved has been clarified by molecular clock analyses using phylogenetic data, coupled with isotopic signatures from fossils. Nearly all C4 lineages arose after 25 Ma when atmospheric CO2 levels had fallen to near current values. This reduction in CO2, coupled with persistent high temperature at low-to-mid-latitudes, met a precondition where photorespiration was elevated, thus facilitating the evolutionary selection pressure that led to C4 photosynthesis.
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Chiapella JO, Demaio PH. Plant endemism in the Sierras of Córdoba and San Luis (Argentina): understanding links between phylogeny and regional biogeographical patterns. PHYTOKEYS 2015; 47:59-96. [PMID: 25878555 PMCID: PMC4389088 DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.47.8347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2014] [Accepted: 02/12/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We compiled a checklist with all known endemic plants occurring in the Sierras of Córdoba and San Luis, an isolated mountainous range located in central Argentina. In order to obtain a better understanding of the evolutionary history, relationships and age of the regional flora, we gathered basic information on the biogeographical and floristic affinities of the endemics, and documented the inclusion of each taxon in molecular phylogenies. We listed 89 taxa (including 69 species and 20 infraspecific taxa) belonging to 53 genera and 29 families. The endemics are not distributed evenly, being more abundant in the lower than in the middle and upper vegetation belts. Thirty-two genera (60.3%) have been included in phylogenetic analyses, but only ten (18.8%) included local endemic taxa. A total of 28 endemic taxa of the Sierras CSL have a clear relationship with a widespread species of the same genus, or with one found close to the area. Available phylogenies for some taxa show divergence times between 7.0 - 1.8 Ma; all endemic taxa are most probably neoendemics sensu Stebbins and Major. Our analysis was specifically aimed at a particular geographic area, but the approach of analyzing phylogenetic patterns together with floristic or biogeographical relationships of the endemic taxa of an area, delimited by clear geomorphological features, could reveal evolutionary trends shaping the area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jorge O. Chiapella
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV-Conicet-UNC). Vélez Sarsfield 299 - X5000JJC Córdoba – Argentina
| | - Pablo H. Demaio
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV-Conicet-UNC). Vélez Sarsfield 299 - X5000JJC Córdoba – Argentina
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Christin PA, Osborne CP. The evolutionary ecology of C4 plants. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2014; 204:765-81. [PMID: 25263843 DOI: 10.1111/nph.13033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2014] [Accepted: 07/31/2014] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
C4 photosynthesis is a physiological syndrome resulting from multiple anatomical and biochemical components, which function together to increase the CO2 concentration around Rubisco and reduce photorespiration. It evolved independently multiple times and C4 plants now dominate many biomes, especially in the tropics and subtropics. The C4 syndrome comes in many flavours, with numerous phenotypic realizations of C4 physiology and diverse ecological strategies. In this work, we analyse the events that happened in a C3 context and enabled C4 physiology in the descendants, those that generated the C4 physiology, and those that happened in a C4 background and opened novel ecological niches. Throughout the manuscript, we evaluate the biochemical and physiological evidence in a phylogenetic context, which demonstrates the importance of contingency in evolutionary trajectories and shows how these constrained the realized phenotype. We then discuss the physiological innovations that allowed C4 plants to escape these constraints for two important dimensions of the ecological niche--growth rates and distribution along climatic gradients. This review shows that a comprehensive understanding of C4 plant ecology can be achieved by accounting for evolutionary processes spread over millions of years, including the ancestral condition, functional convergence via independent evolutionary trajectories, and physiological diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pascal-Antoine Christin
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
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9
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Besnard G, Christin PA, Malé PJG, Lhuillier E, Lauzeral C, Coissac E, Vorontsova MS. From museums to genomics: old herbarium specimens shed light on a C3 to C4 transition. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY 2014; 65:6711-21. [PMID: 25258360 DOI: 10.1093/jxb/eru395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Collections of specimens held by natural history museums are invaluable material for biodiversity inventory and evolutionary studies, with specimens accumulated over 300 years readily available for sampling. Unfortunately, most museum specimens yield low-quality DNA. Recent advances in sequencing technologies, so called next-generation sequencing, are revolutionizing phylogenetic investigations at a deep level. Here, the Illumina technology (HiSeq) was used on herbarium specimens of Sartidia (subfamily Aristidoideae, Poaceae), a small African-Malagasy grass lineage (six species) characteristic of wooded savannas, which is the C3 sister group of Stipagrostis, an important C4 genus from Africa and SW Asia. Complete chloroplast and nuclear ribosomal sequences were assembled for two Sartidia species, one of which (S. perrieri) is only known from a single specimen collected in Madagascar 100 years ago. Partial sequences of a few single-copy genes encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylases (ppc) and malic enzymes (nadpme) were also assembled. Based on these data, the phylogenetic position of Malagasy Sartidia in the subfamily Aristidoideae was investigated and the biogeographical history of this genus was analysed with full species sampling. The evolutionary history of two genes for C4 photosynthesis (ppc-aL1b and nadpme-IV) in the group was also investigated. The gene encoding the C4 phosphoenolpyruvate caroxylase of Stipagrostis is absent from S. dewinteri suggesting that it is not essential in C3 members of the group, which might have favoured its recruitment into a new metabolic pathway. Altogether, the inclusion of historical museum specimens in phylogenomic analyses of biodiversity opens new avenues for evolutionary studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Besnard
- CNRS-UPS-ENFA, UMR5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France
| | | | - Pierre-Jean G Malé
- CNRS-UPS-ENFA, UMR5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G5, Canada
| | - Emeline Lhuillier
- GeT-PlaGe, Campus INRA-Auzeville, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France; INRA, UAR 1209 Département de Génétique Animale, INRA Auzeville, F-31326 Castanet-Tolosan, France
| | - Christine Lauzeral
- CNRS-UPS-ENFA, UMR5174, EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), 118 route de Narbonne, F-31062 Toulouse, France
| | - Eric Coissac
- Laboratoire d'écologie Alpine (LECA), UMR5553, CNRS/Université Joseph Fourier-Grenoble I, Université de Savoie, F-38041 Grenoble, France
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Spriggs EL, Christin PA, Edwards EJ. C4 photosynthesis promoted species diversification during the Miocene grassland expansion. PLoS One 2014; 9:e97722. [PMID: 24835188 PMCID: PMC4023962 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097722] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2013] [Accepted: 04/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Identifying how organismal attributes and environmental change affect lineage diversification is essential to our understanding of biodiversity. With the largest phylogeny yet compiled for grasses, we present an example of a key physiological innovation that promoted high diversification rates. C4 photosynthesis, a complex suite of traits that improves photosynthetic efficiency under conditions of drought, high temperatures, and low atmospheric CO2, has evolved repeatedly in one lineage of grasses and was consistently associated with elevated diversification rates. In most cases there was a significant lag time between the origin of the pathway and subsequent radiations, suggesting that the 'C4 effect' is complex and derives from the interplay of the C4 syndrome with other factors. We also identified comparable radiations occurring during the same time period in C3 Pooid grasses, a diverse, cold-adapted grassland lineage that has never evolved C4 photosynthesis. The mid to late Miocene was an especially important period of both C3 and C4 grass diversification, coincident with the global development of extensive, open biomes in both warm and cool climates. As is likely true for most "key innovations", the C4 effect is context dependent and only relevant within a particular organismal background and when particular ecological opportunities became available.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth L. Spriggs
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
| | - Pascal-Antoine Christin
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
| | - Erika J. Edwards
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America
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